


Angel's Tears

by Yunalesca10



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! GX
Genre: Abuse, Angst, Anxiety, Blood and Injury, Chazz needs a hug, Crowler acting like an adult for once, Depression, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Eventual Happy Ending, Flashbacks, Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, I'm Sorry, Kidnapping, Mild Language, Panic Attacks, Past Abuse, Psychological Torture, Torture, angry atticus, protective friends, some friendship fluff mixed in there somewhere
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-20
Updated: 2018-08-31
Packaged: 2019-06-30 05:18:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 59,960
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15745074
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yunalesca10/pseuds/Yunalesca10
Summary: Chazz Princeton has never had a simple or easy life. Used and abused by his older brothers his entire life to achieve their own selfish goals, after losing to Jaden in the school duel in their first year Chazz thought he was finally free of his brothers and their tyrannical grip on him. But as his depression developed from years of oppression mental and physical abuse Chazz’s panic attacks expose his fractured mental and emotional state to Jaden and the others, Slade and Jagger mastermind a dastardly plan of their own. Planning to somehow harness his ability to communicate with duel monsters Chazz is kidnapped from Duel Academy and subjected to experiments and even a little torture. Jaden and the others discover their friend’s kidnapping and rush off to rescue him, but can they reach Chazz before it's too late? Or will he be overtaken by his brothers’ evil, swallowed by the darkness, and be lost to them forever?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, Yunie10 here! Also known as yugiscrankycrew. Super pumped to be posting this, like holy crap I've wanted to post this for like...ever. I poured a hell of a lot into this, so I hope you all enjoy it! Also, go check out the incredible art done for this story by the incredible DelphiZoa on tumblr like seriously it's amazing stuff!!

**1**

 

The morning was cool and calm that day on Academy Island. The birds chirped chipperly as they always had, and the sun rose slowly over the beautifully sparkling sea, covering the island in an almost celestial glow. The island was still quiet and peaceful from the slow passage of the night. Most of the students were still sleeping, taking advantage of every extra moment of sleep that they could possibly manage to get in before it was time to get ready for class. But of course as always, that time was drawing near once again, but aside from that it was a nearly perfect morning, and it seemed nothing could ruin it's tranquility. 

“SHUT UP!”

“Oh come on boss, you know you love us!”

Chazz’s face was red with rage at being woken up so early by his most hated dorm mates. His slightly tattered black coat laid on a chair to the right of his bed as he hadn’t yet dressed for the day, still wearing his academy issued pajamas, his left eye twitched slightly as he tried to calm down. But just the sight of the Ojama’s was enough to set him off for weeks. Uncontented with simply trying to breathe away the frustration, he took one of the pillows from his bed and hurled it across the room at the harmless yet extremely annoying duel monsters. Of course since the three little imps were spirits, the pillow simply flew through them and smacked into the wall opposite Chazz and he huffed out a huge breath of frustration. One day. One day he would actually manage to hit them.

“Geez, what’s got you in such a tizzy this morning Boss?” Ojama Black asked, floating over to the raven haired boy who was trying with every ounce of his being to ignore the little cretins as he stood gracefully yet swiftly from his bed, walking over to his custom made closet to pull out the purple shirt and black jeans he wore pretty much every day his eye twitched at the sounds of the most annoying voice he had ever heard in his young life.

“Yeah, it can’t be us because you love us!” Ojama Yellow declared happily and confidently as he bounced around in the air around Chazz’s head while he removed his top to put his actual shirt on. His pale, silky skin glistening like a glow stick in the sunlight entering from the window despite the mostly drawn curtains over them. Without a shirt on Chazz really did look ghostly with his skin white as snow, and paired with all of his dark clothes and hair his skin looked even paler in contrast. Perhaps he just needed to get more sun? Pulling the soft dark purple shirt over his head and onto his torso Chazz ran his fingers through his silky dark hair, returning the misplaced hairs back to their correct alignment as per his usual spiky style.

“Just shut up and leave me alone. I hate you guys, don’t you know that by now!?” He growled, brandishing his black coat in his hand before throwing it over his shoulders and onto his body before putting on his matching black pants, masking even more of his practically paper white skin with a shroud of black and other assorted dark colors. Although despite being a student technically residing in Slifer Red, Chazz had never once wore a Duel Academy issued uniform since he returned from his time at North Academy. Especially not a Slifer uniform, but no one paid it much mind, or really even seemed to care much at all, so he didn't either. Swiftly moving to the kitchenette in his room, Chazz pulled a small pill bottle from the medicine cabinet. Taking a look at the tiny bottle in his hand, he checked the label to make sure it was the right bottle, reading the tiny letters spelling out  _ anti-depressants  _ on the little white sticker, he poured a tablet into his dainty hand, taking out a plastic cup from the second cabinet above the sink, and pouring himself a small glass of water from the sink, not minding the mediocre quality of the dorm’s tap water at the moment, he placed the pill in his mouth and swallowed it with the water as a drop dripped down the side of his face, glinting in the sunshine coming through the window.

“Don't say that boss!” Ojama Yellow cried, his overly dramatic tears squirting from his eyes like a broken sprinkler. The poor creature was overly attached to the angsty teen, but unfortunately Chazz did not share the same sentiment as the little colored urchins. “We're nothing without your affection!”

“Yeah, and you're nothing with it either.” Chazz mumbled irritably, strolling quickly out the door, slamming it behind him in frustration. Dealing with the Ojama's was always a challenge for him in terms of keeping his temper in check, but today was just one of those days where almost everything was unbearably irritating even more so than usual. Taking in a deep breath of fresh island air Chazz calmed for a moment, returning to a state of normality, although anger and irritation was quite commonplace for the moody youth. Standing out on the balcony of the shabby and rundown Slifer Red dorm he took in his surroundings of the tranquil morning he found himself in. He'd never stopped and looked around before. The trees around the dorm were tall and the leaves were a dark and healthy green, swaying in the breeze and nesting a myriad of assorted forest animals that also called the island their home. The clouds listed by and sparkled in the morning sun, just as the water which ebbed and flowed around the island's edges. The serene sound of the ocean's waves resonated within him, taking his anger away even for just that moment as the morning wind played with his dark, spiked hair. Tossing his bangs around his face and in front of his lovely, shining black orbs. In essence it really was a perfect morning. Unfortunately not all good things could last, something Chazz knew all too well in his young life.

_ “Just another day, Chazz. You can do this.”  _ he sighed, shaking his head creating himself a small breeze to go with the natural morning island wind  _ “You're ‘The Chazz’! You've got to show everyone that you're the best. Not that you're weak. That's the way it's always been, hasn't it..?”  _ he sighed, allowing his head to lower so that his forehead was just barely grazing the railing of the deck’s banister. His eyes closed slowly and subsequently his vision was shrouded in a deep darkness, one he felt commonplace in his life. For Chazz, there was an inescapable darkness all around him all the time, and there had been ever since his elder brothers had opened the door for it to seep in so many years ago..when they first started abusing him as a child. And that darkness had haunted him even long after they were gone.

Chazz stood for a while longer on the balcony, leaning with his arms crossed in front of him resting on the banister keeping the students from falling off the upper deck of the dorm before it came time for the students to make their way to class. Thinking for a moment about going down to breakfast, he quickly decided against it, not wanting to have to deal with some certain students he'd much rather put off seeing for right now. Taking leisurely strides down the path he headed towards Duel Academy, shooting glares at anyone who looked his way. A typical occurrence for the troubled youth, but today he just did not want to be bothered. But much to his dismay as he made his way to his seat, the kuriboh-haired Slifer Red that Chazz loathed more than anyone else in the school entered the class after no doubt helping himself Chazz’s breakfast that he himself had opted out of eating that morning. He was closely trailed by his timid little bluenette counterpart as the two made their way to their seats by the aloof teen.

“Hey Chazz,” The bluenette by the name of Syrus inquired as the two reached their seats in front of him, looking back at him with his ginormous and significantly adorable gray eyes “why weren't you at breakfast this morning?”

“Why do you care?” Chazz retorted bluntly, giving the marginally smaller boy a dirty look in response. “Besides, you're not even a Slifer anymore. We should be asking why you _ were  _ there. Crashing in Jaden's room again?”

“Well it  _ was  _ my room once..” Syrus muttered quietly, not feeling the need to defend himself to Chazz. Besides, even though he was technically in Ra Yellow now, the Slifer dorm would always be like home in a way. Besides, that's where he would find Jaden most of the time anyway.

“Well hey, we're buddies aren't we?” Jaden asked, making light of the situation and tilting his head slightly before his signature dorky smile graced his face only serving to irritate Chazz exponentially further, “We're just lookin’ out for you, dude.”

“I didn’t ask you to.” Chazz scoffed, crossing his arms before turning his head away from the two boys “I can take care of myself, now lay off slacker.” 

“Well, fine then, I'll leave you alone.” Jaden replied, “But you know if something's up, we're here.” shrugging his shoulders and shaking his head slightly in response to Syrus’ concerned glance back up at him before taking his seat next to his best friend. It was normal for Chazz to act so dismissive to the two friends, but it wasn't like him to miss a meal. Something the two had definitely took notice of during their time together, and even if it was normal it would still be worrying. But rather than push the subject and risk Chazz’s wrath the two silently decided it would be better to let it alone for now. But they would act if they found it necessary in the coming days.

“So Sy, about that insane dream I had last night,” Jaden began, leaning back in his chair as he looked up at the ceiling with a cheeky smile plastered on his face as he recounted the dream he had had the previous night. Somewhere between the inter dimensional political scandal of the kidnapping of Prince Syrus of the ninth dimension and Jaden’s…completely unexpected victory in the battle to decide the fate of the entire multiverse, Chazz’s mind wandered again, blocking out the conversation he would rather not be apart of. Not that the subject wasn't absolutely  _ riveting,  _ but Chazz honestly couldn't care less. Gaining insight into Jaden's subconscious wasn't exactly something he found to be entertaining or even interesting for that matter, never had been and probably never will be. He looked around the slowly filling classroom, his beautiful black eyes scanning every student as they took their seats around him. Each one smiled and chatted with a friend or two they had had sitting around them, preparing their things for the class ahead they all seemed to be having a fine morning. And in all honesty, Chazz was jealous. He was jealous of the carefree nature of the other students. Jealous of the way they most likely weren't used to living in constant fear of failure and being a disappointment. There wasn't pressure constantly holding and more often than naught pushing and pressing them down to the point they were lying on the floor in a cage of negative emotions unable to move for what felt like hours with no one to rescue them. Chazz scoffed at himself for thinking that way. His brothers were gone, they had cast him off after he lost to Jaden in the school duel their first year, and after he had defeated Slade and single handedly saved the school after the fact. He didn't have to worry about them anymore, he wouldn't have to worry about them ever again. But even so the wounds they had inflicted on him over the years had not yet faded away. In fact they still burned and stung just as potently as they had back then. Though the wounds weren't all physical, he still felt them all over his body. 

_ “Just don't think about it.”  _ he told himself, taking out his notebook and placing it on the desk to distract himself even just a little from the pain he felt inside at all times.  _ “You're fine, it'll pass on it's own just leave it alone.”  _ at least he hoped it would. Chazz hated the pain he held within himself, unable to let it go no matter how hard he tried. Of course that was normal for someone in his situation. A person can't just let go of the pain of being abused by their family for years and years overnight. Often times it would be an extremely lengthy and possibly more painful process. A process he was trying to push himself through on his own. After a few more moments of deep thought his concentration was broken by the sound of the bell signaling the beginning of class. Quickly glancing around him Chazz saw that the rest of Jaden’s little posse had arrive without his notice. Blinking a few times in surprise he focused back up to see Dr. Crowler, everyone’s equal parts favorite and least favorite professor, approach the teacher’s podium at the front of the room, ready to address the students and begin their class. Having spent an extended amount of time in deep thought that day, Chazz’s observational skills seemed significantly improved. Taking a look at the ever theatrical doctor, he never noticed how much he looked like a drag queen than anything else. It was weird to think about. Sure he got the jokes people made about him looking like a woman but he had never really paid too much attention to that kind of thing before. Granted he'd never exactly  _ wanted  _ to think about it before, and didn't quite intend to do it now for that matter.

“Chazz!”

  
Chazz blinked quickly, glancing around the room in haste as he was abruptly roused from his thoughts. Regaining his focus he realized it was Crowler who had called to him. Crowler stared back at him with a stern expression as he crossed his arms to indicate his slight frustration with the troubled youth. 

“I asked you a question. Now pay attention!”

“Y-Yes, Dr. Crowler!” Chazz fired out, nodding quickly as he stood promptly at attention. The students around him snickered quietly to themselves at Chazz being called out in front of the entire class like that.

“Good. Now, as I was saying,” Crowler sighed, shaking his head slightly before returning to the day's lesson “Chazz, can you tell me which monsters fuse to create the monster Ryu Senshi?”

“Spirit Ryu and Warrior Dai Grepher!” Chazz fired again, quickly answering to try an avoid being embarrassed in front of the class again. And especially in front of Jaden. The irritating brunette would never let him live it down and he knew it, so he hoped to simply just avoid the situation. Besides, he knew the answer so there was no point in taking the time to make it look like he was thinking about it.

“Ah yes, very good, Chazz.” Crowler praised as Chazz took his seat once more, relieved that that horrible moment was behind him now “Now this monster's effect allows it's holder to negate the effect of an opponent's trap card at the cost of one thousand life points. And also to negate the effect of an opponent's magic card and destroy it.” he explained, a slight smile appearing on his face as he witnessed the majority of the students listening and even taking notes for once, “Now as you can assume these effects can be very useful in a troublesome situation.”

The class continued on as normal with Crowler explaining a multitude of dueling stratagems to the increasingly bored student body, which in a way was abnormal in itself for the titular group in relation to a certain Slifer Red. Though of course it was a welcome change from all of the word endangering antics they usually found themselves smack dab in the middle of. After class Jaden and his friends converged in the courtyard outside the entrance to the academy  as they often did when they had the chance so that they could spend a good few peaceful moments together between world domination and or destruction plots. The sun rose high in the afternoon sky, the clouds had dispersed, leaving a flawless blue sky above the island. Jaden looked over his beloved friend group, smiling at their peaceful state, not having to worry about them being in any kind of life threatening danger as it seemed they were always in. Taking a seat on one of the many stone fixtures lining the walkway, Jaden laid down on his back in a very relaxed position, with his signature grin plastered all over his cheeky little face. 

“Beautiful day today, isn't it?” He asked happily, glancing over at his precious friends. The smiles on their faces was something Jaden would always and had always cherished, especially for Syrus. Syrus was usually in a slump of some kind, or in a bad mood of some description and back in their first year, he would cry all the time and shy away from most everything due to his insecurities and anxieties. Which made each smiles from the little bluenette that much more special for everyone. 

“It is nice, isn't it?” Alexis observed, looking up at the cloudless blue sky with a smile of her own, “It's not every day we get to enjoy a nice day like this around here without something crazy happening.”

“You can say that again, sis!” Atticus proclaimed, throwing his arm around his dear little sister as he beamed with happiness. His gorgeous milk chocolate hair fluttering in the breeze, glittering as the sunshine was caught in his beautiful flowing locks. Atticus sparkled and glistened in the sunshine and his smile and laugh warmed the hearts of everyone around him, he truly was the most beautiful creature on the island. It made sense why pretty much all of the girls were in love with him. “Most beautiful day I think we've ever had!”

“Well son, seems like an ordinary sunny day to me. They're all the same when you think about it anyway.” Hassleberry observed, shrugging his shoulders at Atticus’ proclamation before offering a grin of his own to the older student, leaning back on the stone fixture Jaden was lying on. 

“Did you see what was going on with Chazz this morning?” Syrus asked, looking up at the marginally taller students surrounding him. “I mean sure he's always been well...Chazz about pretty much everything, but I haven't seen him like that since his falling out with his brothers..”

“I know, Sy.” Jaden agreed, nodding in response to the smaller boy “But he said to leave him alone, so shouldn't we? I mean, respecting his wishes and all that?”

“Perhaps, but I would keep an eye on him for the time being.” Bastion examined, crossing his arms as he examined the situation as he understood it “Someone who's gone through what he has is bound to elicit this type of behavior at times. Chazz has quite the troubled past, and I'm sure he's been trying to cope with that for some time now.”

“You think so, soldier?” Hassleberry asked, raising an eyebrow at the astute elder student. Bastion nodded in response to the group's youngest member. The friends stood in contemplation for a few quiet moments, concerned for the emotional and mental well being of their friend. It was completely unlike him to skip a meal on purpose or get distracted in class like he had. Or maybe it was and they just hadn’t noticed? But with such a generally large friend group it seemed highly unlikely that none of them would notice odd behavior until now. But upon further contemplation, Jaden did recall their friend’s behavior in the prior days. Not quite as drastic of a change from his regular self, but it did seem like they had seen less and less of Chazz recently, and he was quieter than usual, like he was overcome by deep thought all the time now. And thinking back on it now, he  _ had _ noticed that since he came back to the academy, occasionally he would in fact skip meals like he had that morning, or lock himself in his dorm for long periods of time. And in all honesty, the thoughts he got in his head about Chazz now worried the young Slifer.

“I mean, Chazz has always been kind of a debby downer, but I agree, something’s gotta be bothering him.” Jaden observed, watching the sky fill itself with scattered clouds again just like that morning as he continued to think out loud to the group “I know, I know he did say to leave him alone and I agreed, you don't have to remind me. But if there's any way we can help him, then shouldn't we?” he turned to his friends, who had offered him their full attention as he posed his stance on the potential problem with Chazz, “I mean, we’re his friends aren't we?”

“You've got a point there, Jaden..” Alexis agreed, thinking back herself on the past few days. And even she grew more concerned for Chazz as well. As a former Obelisk Blue Chazz took precedents in her mind. She would never admit it, but Alexis was extremely biased towards the Obelisk Blue dorm and students. “But what can we do? He doesn't want to be bothered.”

“We’ll figure something out, sis.” Atticus responded, smiling gently and beautifully like always “Just leave it to me!”

“If we do that we'll never solve anything.” Alexis sighed, shaking her head at her ever strange brother. He meant well, but Atticus didn't exactly have the...best ideas.

“Why don't we just hold an intervention? Get straight to the root of the problem?” Hassleberry asked, posing the idea to the group. It was a fine idea in theory, but considering the delicate nature of the issue as they assumed it was, in this case it probably wasn't the best.

“I'm not so sure about that.” Bastion disagreed, pointing out the flaws in the idea, “If we all ganged up on him -so to speak- we would overwhelm him. And forcing him to speak to us would only serve to make things worse. He would conceal his feelings further as he already doesn't wish to be bothered about this. Which you obliged to Jaden.”

“I know, I know.” Jaden dismissed, waving off Bastion’s statement. “I told you you didn't have to remind me.”

“But..we have help somehow..” Syrus spoke up, his young and childish voice standing out among the group's quiet murmuring, “I can't say he'd do the same for us but..”

“I get it, Sy.” Jaden said, hopping off of the stone fixture and walking over to the little bluenette, placing his hand gently on his small, slender shoulder. “We’ll figure something out. I promise.” Flashing his best friend a cheeky smile Syrus perked up a little. Offering his own adorable smile back up at Jaden. He and Chazz weren't the best of friends, but Syrus still wanted to help him get through his tough time. With experience with an emotionally abusive older brother he knew a thing or two about dealing with family problems. And seeing others go through them never felt good for poor Syrus. And with Jaden's help he was able to get through it all and even move past it, overcoming his problems with Zane, mostly. He had hoped that Jaden would be able to find some way to help Chazz in the same way.

“Okay.” Syrus nodded, confident that Jaden would be able to find a way to help their friend. The others nodded in agreement around the two best friends. “I trust you, Jay.” Syrus didn't see a reason not to. No matter what, Jaden had always come through for him and the others. No matter how tough things got, Jaden would always stay strong and help his friends when they were in a pinch. And Syrus was sure this time would be no different.

“I won’t let you down, Sy.” Jaden chuckled, patting his friend’s shoulder gently, “I mean, what kind of friend would I be if I did?” smiling brightly for a moment, Jaden thought hard about Chazz’s behavior since he returned from North Academy, and even what he could remember from before he left. He had definitely changed since they first entered the academy. And certainly not a change for the better in every way, sure he was nicer to them now by a margin, but that wasn't everything and they all knew that. And of course they did worry about their friend, any good person would.

“Why don't you just go talk to him, Jaden?” Alexis asked, shrugging her shoulders in intrigue, honestly slightly doubting her own suggestion would work for them, after all this was  _ Chazz  _ they were dealing with.

“You think that'll work, Lex?” Hassleberry asked, raising an eyebrow at her. Sure the thought had crossed his mind too, but knowing Chazz even for as little as he had in comparison to the others, even he doubted it would garner much success. At least not right away that is. 

“Well you know Jaden.” Alexis explained “He won't let up until he gets  _ something  _ out of him.”

“Geez, way to make me look like the bad guy, Lex.” Jaden protested, crossing his arms with a sigh. Of course she  _ did  _ have a point, he did have a tendency to be a bit pushy with people. Thinking back he was surprised at himself for letting the subject go so quickly that morning. Normally he would probably end up pestering Chazz until he got a proper answer out of him, but in all honesty he wondered if it was better that he let it go when he did. Jaden had a feeling that pushing the subject would only serve to harm Chazz rather than help him. “But I guess you do have a point. I guess I could try, but I can't promise anything.”

“Well of course not.” Bastion responded, shaking his head at the brunette “In fact I'd be surprised if you got him to say anything to you at all.”

“Good luck, Jaden.” Atticus said, smiling confidently, ever optimistic as usual that everything would be okay. Some would say that was a major flaw in his personality, he was positive in almost every situation. Which wasn't necessarily bad, but also wasn't necessarily the best either. 

“Yeah, I'll see what I can do.” Jaden nodded, turning away from the titular group, raising his hand in a quick wave before he headed in the direction of the Slifer dorm. Needless to say he had a pretty good idea of where Chazz was now, his dorm really did seem the most logical place he would go. Especially after class that morning. Anyone would want to be alone after that. Strolling leisurely down the pathway to the Slifer dorm Jaden thought hard about what he was going to say to Chazz. Bastion was right, they were sure whatever was bothering Chazz was a very personal matter, so Jaden had to be very careful about what he said, especially since he had no idea what the actual problem was. It was going to be a difficult situation for sure..


	2. Chapter 2

**2**

 

Chazz sat alone in his dorm room, sitting with his back against the wall, his knees pulled up to his chest. His arms wrapped around his legs while his head rested on his knees. The curtains were drawn, limiting the sunlight entering the room despite the fact that the lights in his room were left on. Across the way his black coat rested again on the chair opposite the bed. Chazz would never tell anyone this, but every day he was able to do so after class he would come back to his room and sulk in the dark, wallowing in his own depression. He knew it wasn’t the healthiest thing for him to do, but after a bad day there wasn’t anything else he could bring himself to do. And today hadn’t exactly been the best after being embarrassed in front of the entire class by Dr. Crowler that morning. After that his mood slowly deteriorated, causing him to recede completely into himself by the end of the school day. It was always like that for him now, no matter how good he seemed to be doing one day no matter what it seemed even the smallest thing would hurt him bad enough to send him spiralling downwards, and have him sitting alone in his room only spiralling further. Trying to keep his breathing slow and even while he tried to calm himself down, taking slow deep breaths in through his nose and out through his mouth, but the image of his elder brothers’ disapproving and angry faces flashed before his closed eyes.

_ “You’re pathetic, Chazz!”  _ they shouted at him as Chazz retreated further into himself, moving his entire body closely against the wall.  _ “You can’t do anything right!” _

_ “You’re just a waste of time and space.”  _ Slade declared, shooting daggers at the youngest Princeton brother with his cold, jaded eyes directly peering into Chazz’s fragile soul.

_ “All you know how to do is get in everyone’s way!”  _ Jagger followed up, raising his voice at the vulnerable younger boy, only serving to make him spiral further downwards. Practically cowering against his dorm wall, Chazz tucked his head down between his chest and legs, digging his fingers into the sides of his head, intertwined into his thick raven black hair, his eyes screwed shut as his brother’s voices continued to torment him.

_ “I can’t believe we wasted so much time and effort trying to make you worth anything at all.”  _ Slade snarled in contempt for his youngest brother,  _ “All you did was disappoint us. You’re a disgrace to the Princeton name!” _

“Please..stop..” Chazz pleaded in desperation, his voice wavering as he fought the tears fighting to emerge from his tightly closed eyes. Chazz trembled as he fought against his emotions, finding himself unable to keep them in check. 

_ “You shouldn’t have even been born!”  _ The eldest brother shouted, bringing his fist down upon the youngest, causing Chazz to flinch like he had really been hit by a physical person and not just a figment of his imagination, grabbing at the wall he was pressed up against with his right hand his breathing accelerated from the little shock he sustained from the imaginary blow.  _ “The world would be better off without you, you worthless dog!” _

In that moment there was a knock at the door. Chazz quickly shot up from his balled up position as the sound broke him out of his hallucination. Quickly looking around the empty room, his mind spinning around in confusion, the sound of the door knock didn’t quite process as to what it was before he heard the loud obnoxious knock again, but this time it was quicker and stronger, and accompanied by an annoyingly familiar voice.

“Chazz?”

There was no mistaking Jaden’s frustratingly friendly tone even in such a scatter brained state as he was at the moment. And at that moment there was nothing Chazz needed less than Jaden to bother him. All he wanted was to be alone and left to wallow like every other day he had days as bad as this one emotionally. Though it had been quite some time since he hallucinated about his brothers like that..

“Hey Chazz! You there, buddy?” Jaden called, knocking once again loudly and obnoxiously. Swiftly wiping his face of any possible tears Chazz hopped up from the bed which took up the majority of the room and composed himself before finally opening the door for the annoying Slifer.

“What.” Chazz asked irritatedly, his expression hardening back to his normal unimpressed and unenthused look.

“Oh hey, Chazz.” Jaden said, offering him an overly friendly smile, “I just wanted to see how you were doing. You seemed kinda off this morning.” Jaden's expression changed to his own intrigue noticing that Chazz wasn't wearing his signature black coat. It wasn't a big deal or anything, but it was weird seeing the purple top without the coat covering it. “So what's up?”

“None of your business, that's what.” Chazz asserted, narrowing his eyes at the Slifer before turning his back to him. “Now go away.” closing the door in Jaden’s face Chazz re-entered his room, walking over to the desk beside his bed, placing his dainty hand gently on the back of the desk chair, feeling the soft fabric of his coat on his pale, silky skin. 

“Hey, Chazz I'm not trying to be the bad guy here.” Jaden protested, following him into the room much to Chazz’s chagrin. “I just wanna know if you're okay, that's all.” He explained, softening his tone to one more gentle “We all do.” The brunette sighed quietly, shaking his head slightly as he thought of what to say next. He didn't want to push Chazz, but he couldn't figure another way to get the snow white boy to open up to him.

“I didn't ask you to.” Chazz snapped, whipping his head to the side just enough to see the brunette out of the corner of his eye, “I didn't ask anyone to worry about me and there's nothing to worry  _ about _ !” 

“Chazz, you don't have to ask us.” Jaden said, taking a step closer to him but still keeping a small distance between them “We're your friends, we're gonna worry about you no matter what.” taking a moment to think about what he would say next, Jaden got a bold thought. Fearing the reaction he might receive he hesitated. Jaden knew he shouldn't bring his brothers into things, but he also figured that if anything was bothering him so badly, that's probably what it was. Taking a deep breath, Jaden placed his hand firmly on Chazz’s shoulder and turned him around so the two were facing one another. “Look, I think I know what your problem is. It's your brothers, isn't it?”

Chazz stiffened as the words reached his ears. His eyes widened, taken off guard and by surprise at what Jaden had deduced. Of course he was right, but there was no way he was going to let Jaden get inside his head like that. Not like the two elder Princeton's had done, etching themselves into the youngest’s mind, forever inflicting more and more mental wounds upon the poor boy. 

“You really don't want to go there, Jaden.” Chazz warned, his eyes narrowing again, reaching up and pushing Jaden’s hand off of his shoulder, “I told you it's none of your business.” keeping his eyes narrow and his gaze stern as he could as the images of his brothers flashed before his eyes. Shaking his head quickly to try and make the images go away Chazz stepped away from Jaden, his eyes fixated on the medicine cabinet, taking another step past Jaden. Jaden watched him walk away, and in a moment of pure instinct reached his arm out and reached for the raven haired teen. Chazz felt a tug on his arm, stopping him in his tracks. Looking back he saw Jaden’s hand clasped around his wrist, Jaden’s eyes were serious, focused. Much different than they’d ever been before in his memory of the other teen, which wasn't exactly much but even so. 

“Let go of me, Jaden.” Chazz asserted, tugging against Jaden’s grip as his own serious eyes shot daggers back into Jaden’s, though his thoughts were begging Jaden to release him.

“Chazz, I'm just trying to help you.” Jaden countered, keeping a firm grip on his wrist. “I'm not trying to hurt you but you have to talk to me. Talk to  _ us _ !” Fearing he had already gone too far, Jaden cursed himself for what he'd managed to do in such a short time. He was also baffled by how much he had managed to mess things up so fast. One minute he was being nice and collected and reasonable, and the next minute there they were almost yelling at each other. “Look, don't think I haven't noticed how weird you've been acting lately.”

“I'm fine Jaden, let me go!” Chazz commanded, raising his voice at the concerned brunette, struggling against his firm grip. The image of his brothers still clouding his mind, his breathing began to accelerate and his heart pounded, remembering what had happened only moments before Jaden arrived. Looking away from the brunette back to the medicine cabinet he aimed to reach his eyes widened in a moment of panic as his mind began to spin as it had before, impairing his logical thought process. Realizing he would be unable to reach the cabinet with Jaden holding him like that he turned back to gain the momentum he needed to shake himself free of Jaden’s firm grip. Letting out a slight gasp Chazz’s eyes widened at what his eyes beheld. When he turned around, it wasn't Jaden holding him anymore.

“What's wrong with you, Chazz??” 

Chazz nearly screamed at what he saw. Looking forward with his eyes widened in a panic he looked upon his eldest brother Slade, glaring at him with his hand clamped tightly around his wrist. Blinking quickly hoping it was just a hallucination, the image didn't go away. Panting quickly in a panic Chazz struggled hard against him, only to have his grip tighten against his own tugs and yanks in an attempt to get himself free.

“Get off of me!! Let me go!!” Chazz shouted in fear, his heart pounding at the sight of his eldest brother sending him in a panic induced frenzy, pulling hard against him, frantically scratching at him with his free hand.

“What are you doing!? Have you lost your mind!?” Slade shouted back, grabbing at Chazz’s free hand and holding him tightly and securely in his grasp, pulling him in a little closer “This is exactly what I'm talking about! You need help!”

“No! Leave me alone!!” Chazz yelled back, his eyes screwed shut as he pushed hard against the eldest Princeton, breaking his hold on the boy and causing him to stumble and fall down catching himself on the bed, Chazz turned and backed away from his brother before he could get back up and restrain him again. Covering his face with his hands Chazz tried to keep himself from hyperventilating, making an attempt to control his breathing but only serving fail as his heart pounded harder and harder, making his whole body tremble. 

“Chazz..”

Lifting his head back up he recognized the familiar voice. Jaden had returned to Chazz’s panic distorted reality, looking back he saw the brunette slowly begin to stand from the spot his brother had fallen, and that his brother was nowhere to be seen. Fully realizing what had just happened in the span of about four to five minutes Chazz’s eyes widened again for a moment before returning to normal. He couldn't let Jaden see him like this. Or anyone for that matter.

“Get out.” Chazz commanded, turning fully back to the brunette, pointing back to the doorway of the small dorm room, his head lowered so the brunette couldn't see the tears forming in his beautiful black eyes.

“But Chazz-"

“-I said GET OUT!!” 

Scrambling to get fully back upon his feet Jaden scampered quickly passed Chazz consumed in his own small aura in fear of what he had unintentionally done. Ripping the door open he stopped in the doorway, looking back at the trembling boy. 

“Chazz I-"

“-GO!!” Chazz growled, storming over to the brunette, shoving him violently out of the door before slamming it hard in his face. As soon as Jaden disappeared from his sight Chazz felt like his heart stopped in his chest. Without the need to hold up the facade, it crumbled from underneath him. Breathing quickly and heavily he made a break for the medicine cabinet, practically tearing it open to find his tranquilizers, not wanting the attack he was having to get any worse than it already was paired with the hallucinations he was having before Jaden came and made things worse for him. He hated taking the tranquilizers, he preferred getting through these things on his own but there were times where it was just too much to handle trying to calm down on his own, and with everything he had been through in the span of about fifteen minutes it seemed, this was one of those times. Rummaging through the cabinet he grabbed bottle after bottle of pills and other such over the counter pharmaceuticals for regular everyday problems like headaches, stuffy noses and the like along with a few containers of vitamins and his small amount of actual prescription medications. Taking only seconds to read the labels to see if he had found the right container he frantically continued to rummage the cabinet, tossing aside the bottles he didn’t need, tears beginning to return to his eyes as he was unable to stop them now that he was alone with no need to put on his facade. Getting his trembling hands finally on the right bottle he practically tore the lid off of the small orange container, shaking it over his opened palm. His eyes widening with a sharp gasp as nothing fell out of the bottle into his palm he looked inside to find that the bottle was empty. Stiffening for a moment the little orange bottle fell from his pale, dainty hand. Plastic clattering on the floor with the other bottles he had tossed while looking for the thing. 

_ “W-What do I do now..??”  _ He thought, feeling his breath accelerate into slight hyperventilation, his body continuing to shake he took a step back, stepping on one of the pill bottles he tossed in his panicked search before, causing him to lose his footing and begin to fall. Quickly catching himself Chazz stood back up straight as he could as he stumbled back, slamming his thin body into the desk across from the bed. Hitting the desk chair in the process, causing it to lose it’s own balance and tumble to the ground, throwing his coat from it’s back, sending it to the ground as well a short distance away at the foot of the bed.

_ “What the hell are you doing!?”  _ Slade’s voice boomed through the small dorm, freezing Chazz in his tracks once again. His heart pounded and his head spun, on the edge of pure hyperventilation he stepped back, looking around for his brother, but neither of the elder Princeton’s were anywhere in sight  _ “Quit being such a baby! You’re even more pathetic than we thought!” _

“L-Leave me alone..!” Chazz pleaded, retreating back into the corner of the room, pressing his back up against the wall. Tightly closing his eyes, clamping his hands over his ears, trying to block out any noise he could, already failing to control his panicked breathing he hoped to lessen the stimulation around him, but he doubted it would be very effective.

_ “And to think we wasted so much time and money on you!”  _ Jagger joined in, further adding to the boy’s torment.  _ “If we knew you were so weak we wouldn't have bothered!” _

_ “You'll never amount to anything, Chazz.”  _ Slade continued to scold as Chazz slowly sank down to the ground in the corner of his dormitory, tears escaping from his tightly shut eyes.

“Go away!” He cried, shaking his head violently from side to side in a vain attempt to make the voices go away. In truth, Chazz was terrified. His attacks had never been this bad before. Not since the second to last time he saw them before they effectively disowned him for losing to Jaden. Sure he heard their voices mocking and tormenting him all the time during his attacks, but he'd never had emotional  _ and  _ panic attacks at the same time. And on top of those he was terrified, he didn't know what to do.

_ “You'll never be worth anything either!”  _ The two shouted at once, loud enough it sounded they were yelling right into his ears  _ “You're worthless, Chazz!!” _

“Somebody help me…” He pleaded through his tears and hyperventilating, his body shaking uncontrollably through the overloading of negative and conflicting emotions overwhelming the poor child all at once. And even he could admit it was too much to handle on his own. “Please...”

_________________________

 

Jaden ran down the pathway from the Slifer dorm, fearful of what he had done to the clearly emotionally unstable teen he had unintentionally managed to push too far in about three minutes. The wind created by his quick movement, whipping his hair all around getting his fringe into his eyes. Panting from encroaching fatigue from practically sprinting along.

“I-I've gotta get help!” He remarked to himself as he hurried along, racking his brain for who would be the best option, quickly excluding himself before he even began, fearing that he had already hurt Chazz badly enough just being there at all. Taking a moment to stop and catch his breath, Jaden looked up to see the Obelisk Blue dorm across the way. Laying eyes on the immaculate building he felt the wheels turning in his head. But with an actual good idea this time.

“Atticus!” He declared, shooting back to his full posture with his finger pointed up in the air as the idea escaped his lips. “He's close with Chazz, he’ll know what to do!” without a moment's hesitation Jaden made a break for the Obelisk dorm. He figured that if anyone could help Chazz now, it was Atticus. After all, he had managed to befriend the boy almost immediately upon his return. And despite his erratic and amusing behaviors, Atticus was much wiser than he seemed. In all honesty Jaden questioned why they didn't send him in the first place. Sprinting down the paths and past the Academy Jaden made his way to the ridiculously fancy dormitory, barreling past the numerous Obelisk students offering strange looks to the Slifer running around their dorm. Wandering for a moment before remembering where the elder student’s room was, Jaden pounded on the Rhodes boy’s door, hoping to every deity he could imagine that he was there.

“Atticus!!” He called, banging loud and hard on the bedroom door, his own frantic thoughts racing. He'd never hurt a friend like that before, he had no idea what to do about it. He cursed himself again when he thought about the condition he had left Chazz in, wondering if it was really a good idea to leave him on his own. “Atticus open up!!”

“Jaden-” The elder brunette asked, opening the door for the younger boy. Widening his eyes he quickly slipped to the side, avoiding Jaden’s fist as he went to pound on the now open door causing him to stumble forwards into the now open room. “-Whoa! Jaden, what's going on?”

“It's Chazz!” Jaden replied urgently, looking up at the older boy, his eyes wide with panic and concern. “I-I think something's wrong with him!”

“Whoa, whoa.” Atticus preempted, shaking his head and waving his arms for Jaden to stop talking, his gorgeous milk chocolate eyes looking down at the younger in confusion, “What do you mean? What's going on?”

“Well I went to talk to him like we decided,” Jaden explained, trying to compose himself so he could accurately recount the event he had just witnessed and evidently and accidentally caused, “and he wasn't talking to me so I told him what I thought his problem was and-" sighing Jaden shook his head quickly, disappointed in himself, “-Oh man, I shouldn't have done that, because I told him I thought his problem was his brothers and he just got really mad at me and tried to leave, so like a moron I grabbed his arm to stop him a-and he just started..freaking out, screaming at me to let go of him and it was like..he thought I was someone else, I-I think he's having a panic attack o-or a breakdown of some sort, please you have to do something!”

Atticus stared at Jaden for a moment listening to his words, realizing the gravity of what Jaden was describing he took notice of the scratches on Jaden’s left hand.

“Are those from him..?” He asked, pointing to the red marks on the younger boy’s hand. Already knowing the answer he didn't wait for Jaden to answer him before turning around and running out of the room, his heart filling with concern for his young, aloof friend. Hurrying as fast as he could he reached the Slifer dorm, hurrying up the stairs to Chazz’s room. Catching his breath quickly he gently knocked on the door, not trying to be rude though he did feel the urgency of what Jaden relayed to him, and the responsibility he was entrusted. 

“Chazz..?” He asked gently, pausing as he waited for an answer. Greeted only by silence the worry rose in his heart. Taking a deep breath Atticus slowly pushed open the door, looking into the room. The lights were off but the daylight was enough to light the room through the windows. Taking a quiet step inside Atticus heard a small rattling at his feet. He looked down, and a small gasp escaped from his lips. The floor was covered in spilled pills from bottles that had been obviously thrown around the room. Very concerned for the well being of their friend he shut the door behind him, taking a step further into the dimly lit room. The desk chair had also been knocked over, Chazz’s signature coat lying in a heap on the floor by the bed. The room looked like something had really gone down in there.

“...Chazz..?” Atticus asked again, scanning the room for the younger boy. Listening for a moment a small, uneven breath caught his ear. Whipping around in the direction it came from, his eyes fixated on the source before widening quickly. His eyes beheld the younger student curled up in a heap in the back corner of the doom backed up as much as he could against the wall, his knees pulled up to his chest with his head tucked down between the space, one hand wrapped around his legs to hold them in place, the other clutching at the wall adjacent him. 

“Chazz!”Atticus called in concern, hurrying over to the younger boy, descending to his knees beside him. Observing him for a moment, he could hear his haggard and uneven breathing more clearly. It was as if he had been hysterically hyperventilating until he started running out of oxygen, like he was terrified of something and strained himself completely in reaction to it. From the gap between his arm covering his face and the exposed skin, he could see his normally snow white face had taken on a new reddish tint like he had been sobbing before, only adding to his breathing issues. Very worried for the youth Atticus slowly reached out his hand to the boy.

“Hey, Chazz...?” He asked, very cautiously approaching him, “You alright…?” The moment Atticus’ hand made contact with Chazz’s shoulder a cry escaped from the boy, his head popped up out of it's spot between his legs, smacking the elder’s hand away with the hand that was clasped around his legs, his eyes were widened with panic as tears stuck to the sides of them, and his breath accelerated again as he backed away from the intruder, going nowhere as he was already tightly pressed against the corner walls. 

“Chazz, it's me!” Atticus informed, moving closer to the frightened boy. Grabbing his shoulders he held tight as Chazz began to struggle and cry out at his touch, Atticus turned him to fully face the elder. “It's Atticus!” shaking him slightly hoping to bring the boy back to his senses he locked eyes with the panicked child in his grasp, connecting their gazes together in an outstretch of comfort he hoped to give to the teen. Continuing to panic tears streamed down Chazz’s red, puffy face. Struggling in Atticus’ grip he began to sob, his breath hitching and catching in his throat as he failed to regain his senses, fighting hard in the intruders’ grasp.

“Alright, that's it.” Atticus said, taking the smaller boy into his arms, he hoisted him up into the air, situating him in his arms until he was holding him bridal style, keeping his arms tightly around him to minimize his squirming, restraining Chazz as best he could so he couldn't lash out and harm him like he had Jaden. “We’ve gotta get you calmed down before you hurt yourself.” Holding Chazz tightly as he struggled and cried out to be released Atticus turned from the corner to the rest of the room, walking over to the bed and laying Chazz down on the large, soft comforter. Sitting down on next to him on the side of the bed Atticus grabbed Chazz’s wrists, holding his arms down to keep him in place so he couldn't fight anymore. Once he stopped spazzing like that it would be easier to calm him down, and also keep Atticus’ patience from wearing thin trying to calm the boy.

“L-Let me go..!!” Chazz cried, squirming in the elder’s grip as he continued to sob. Atticus looked on with sadness at the younger student, upset that he was affected so badly by his brothers, knowing from what Jaden told him that that was the problem. It's true he didn't know as much about Chazz’s family as the others did, but they had told him that he was abused emotionally for years. But it was also clear that he was having more than one attack at a time from how he was and had been acting. From what he could gather the panic had been sparked when Jaden grabbed him before, causing something to trigger within him. Maybe a memory associated with his brothers from a long time ago? And beforehand his emotions would have had to have already been running high to spark something like this. He was probably already having an emotional breakdown of some sort before Jaden even arrived.

“Chazz, it's me. Your friend.” Atticus said calmly, keeping a firm but gentle hold on the squirming boy, “I'm not trying to hurt you. Jaden wasn't trying to hurt you either.” he explained, offering him a slight and gentle smile. “I'm here to help you. But if I'm going to do that I need you to calm down, okay? Can you hear me?”

Chazz listened to the familiar voice through his sobs, his head still spinning from everything he'd been put through that day, and all the years before. Trying his best to focus on his friend’s voice Chazz’s breathing slowed and his body tried to stop moving, but all he could manage to do in that moment was nod at Atticus’ question. 

“Good, good.” Atticus sighed in relief, glad to know that Chazz wasn't completely hysterical and could hear what he was saying. That would make things exponentially easier to handle from here on out. “I need you to calm down. Stop squirming and relax. I'm not going to hurt you, I promise. Hear me? No one here is going to hurt you.” Easing up his hold on Chazz, Atticus smiled slightly as the teen slowed his movement down to a stop, though his breathing was still hitched and uneven while he cried. “You’ve got to stop crying.” he soothed, still maintaining his serious demeanor about the situation. This wasn't something to be taken lightly, in fact it was just the opposite. Unwilling to let go of Chazz’s wrists until he had completely calmed down in case he started up again, Atticus made sure he wasn't being too violent with him, keeping his hold firm but still gentle in nature. 

“I-I..” Chazz tried to speak, but the hitching of his breath caught his words in his throat, stopping him from making any sound aside from his heart wrenching sobs. 

“I know.” Atticus nodded, sympathizing with the crying child next to him, “But if you don't stop crying you won't get better. I'll let you sit up, but not until you calm down, okay?” Thinking back to how scared Jaden was when he came to him, Atticus sighed quietly to himself, shaking his head at the thought of how everything must have gone down before. Of course, no one knew that Chazz was susceptible to attacks like this, or really anything about his health at all. Jaden had no way of knowing he would react the way he did, effectively scaring the both of them. “I know Jaden’s sorry for scaring you, but he didn't know. Don't blame him, alright? The others and I asked him to talk to you because we were worried about you. We care about you. Now you've got to calm down okay? Just breathe.” he instructed, thinking for a moment as he listened to Chazz try and fail to calm his breathing, taking his right hand Atticus pressed it against his chest, holding the limp appendage supportively so it wouldn't slip, taking deep slow breaths of his own and placing Chazz’s other hand on his own chest so he could feel his own breathing in tandem. 

“Match my breathing.” He instructed, breathing deep and slow for the boy, watching satisfactorily as he watched Chazz’s movement slow and calm down. “In and out, nice and slow.” 

Chazz felt Atticus’ chest move with his breathing, his own chest rising and falling much quicker than the elder's. Doing his best to focus on only breathing slower he took as deep a breath as he could before his breath caught itself in his throat causing him to breath out again, the sobs still plaguing him.

_ “Come on Chazz, you can do this.”  _ he thought to himself, attempting to take another deep breath,  _ “Just breathe. You're okay.” _

“There you go, that's better.” Atticus praised as Chazz’s breathing slowed, his chest rising and falling at a more even pace while he focused on calming himself down and matching Atticus’ breath. “You're doing good, kiddo.” he soothed, looking him over to be sure he was really alright. Chazz’s breath evened out slowly, calming his cries in turn. Letting him lie for a few moments longer Atticus let go of the boy, placing the pale, limp hand back at Chazz’s side as he listened to his quiet breathing, listening for any hitching that could still be present in his unstable state. Satisfied with the quiet even breath, Atticus spoke up again.

“I'll sit you up now if you want, but you have to talk to me okay? I want you to explain to me what's wrong.” 

Chazz nodded slightly in response, still coming down from the high of what had all just happened to him over that afternoon. In all honesty he just felt like death. But he was sure he wanted nothing more than to stop lying down. Sitting up sounded heavenly to the youth, more than ready to get up, feeling like if he stayed down much longer he would only start crying again, which neither of them wanted. 

“Alright.” Atticus nodded in return, gently sliding his left arm under Chazz’s back while his right hand was placed lightly on his shoulder. Mentally counting to three Atticus slowly lifted Chazz up and forwards into a sitting position. “Now, what's wrong?” Keeping his arm around the boy's shoulder, Atticus listened carefully to what Chazz had to say to him.

“I..” Chazz sighed, keeping his voice low and soft almost like he was ashamed of his answer “I've had depression for a long time now..because of them..” Atticus tensed when he heard. After all this time none of them had any idea, Chazz had never said a word before now. After everything they'd been through together..did he not trust them enough to open himself up to them..?

“Chazz…” Atticus said, with an air of both sadness and disbelief in his voice. None of the others would have believed it before, not even Atticus. But after everything he had just seen.. “Is that why you were freaking out like that..? And you have panic attacks too..?”

Chazz nodded silently, keeping his gaze away from his elder friend and downcast towards the floor, fixating on the mess of pills and bottles he had made in his hysterical outburst before. 

“You've seen doctors about this, haven't you?” Atticus asked, just trying to cover all of his bases and just over all put the pieces all together in his mind. He was going to have to tell the others about what he had learned and seen when he saw them again. He figured he may as well gather all the facts. 

“Of course I have.” Chazz answered, bringing up his left hand he began rubbing his forehead for a moment before leaving it covering his left eye, sighing quietly to himself. “But I never told anybody. And when my brothers found out...well…” he sighed again, “Look.” slowly lifting his shirt Chazz revealed a series of small scars all across his stomach, chest, and sides. Atticus gasped when he saw them, covering his mouth with his free hand in his surprise and shock. He knew Chazz had been mentally and emotionally abused...but he never imagined…

“A-Are those all..?”

“Not all of them.” Chazz explained,  shaking his head at Atticus’ notion. “But yeah, that's the basic idea..”

“So that's why..?”

“Why I freaked out when Jaden grabbed me, and when you touched me?” Chazz sighed, nodding his head as he let go of his shirt, the dark purple fabric dropping back down, concealing the old wounds again in their shroud.  “Yeah.” Looking back up at the elder, Chazz’s normally shiny black eyes were dull and empty. Sad, and even looked defeated. The poor boy had been through more than any of them had ever imagined. “And why I haven't told anybody.” He shrugged, looking away again “In case you were wondering.”

“I'm so sorry…” Atticus sympathized, his arm around Chazz’s shoulders stiffening slightly as he tightened his supportive, and frankly now protective hold on the damaged teen next to him. “We’re here for you, okay? You know we care about you. And we want to help you..” In a moment of pure brotherly instinct Atticus reached out, grabbing Chazz’s hand in his own, squeezing it gently in a show of his support and sincerity. “No one will ever hurt you like that again. We can make sure of that.”

“I..appreciate the sentiment, Atticus but..” Chazz sighed, clasping his free arm around his stomach, as if he were holding his scars in his hands like a precious treasure. Which of course is exactly the opposite of what they were. “When it comes to my brothers...I'm trapped...they can do anything they want with me..”

“That's not right!” Atticus stated, raising his voice in complete appallement at what Chazz was insinuating. “You can't let your brothers treat you like this! It's wrong!” there was no excuse for Chazz’s treatment by his brothers. No self respecting older brother could treat their kid sibling so badly and not show even a little remorse. And as an older brother himself Atticus was even offended by the thought of what the elder Princeton's had done to cause those scars on Chazz’s fragile body, and inflict such hurt and pain on his young mind. And he would make certain they did something about it. 

“Look, Atticus.” Chazz countered, turning away from his friend. “I appreciate what you're trying to do here, I really do. But there's nothing you can do about them...believe me, they've got too much power on their side to try and oppose them.”

“Bet we won't.” Atticus declared. His gorgeous shining eyes narrowing while his tone strengthened and became more serious than Chazz had ever heard it before. “We’re here to help you, Chazz. We care about you and we don't want you to be hurt.” he stood from his spot next to the boy, walking over to Chazz’s coat Atticus kneeled down and picked it up, the soft fabric in his hands he went back to the boy, gently draping the black shroud over his shoulders, kneeling back down so that he was eye level with the teen, “You can trust us. The others and I will do whatever it takes to help you. You just have to let us. And if that means taking on your brothers to do it then so be it.”

“You're more stubborn than me, aren't you?” Chazz sighed, a small chuckle escaping through the tail end of the sigh. Shaking his head he looked to the elder teen once more “If they find out I told anyone about this-"

“-They wouldn't dare.” Atticus interrupted, quickly returning to his feet. “Not now that you've told someone. That alone is powerful enough to stand against them.” Smiling at his young friend, Atticus placed a hand gently on his caped shoulder “You took a really big step today. Let us help you move forward.”

Pulling his coat tighter around his shoulders Chazz curled up back into a little ball on the bed, resting his chin on his knees he sighed as he clutched at his scars again, closing his eyes for a moment he looked back at Atticus with his defeated black orbs.

“I can't do this anymore, Atticus..” he said quietly, keeping his gaze away from the elder as he began to wallow again as he thought back on everything he had had to endure alone all this time, “not alone...I-I don't know how to fix myself..”

“It's alright, kiddo.” Atticus said, gently rubbing the younger boy’s back, thinking about how he was going to tell the others about everything he had seen and learned here today. “We’re here for you. Just say the word, and we'll do whatever it takes to help you get better, and make you feel safe. Your brothers can't hurt you any more.”

The two teens sat there in the dim bedroom in silence after that. Atticus thought about what and how he would tell the others about Chazz’s complicated condition. There was no getting out of that conversation, he knew that. They both knew that. But the problem he figured would be getting Chazz to talk to the others. It's not that he didn't trust them or anything, but he certainly seemed to be less comfortable around them than he was Atticus. Of course, that could always change. But more than anything Atticus wanted to help protect the troubled youth. By now Chazz was something of a younger brother to him, like Syrus was to Jaden. The image of the boy's scars haunted Atticus’ vision, he was appalled that his brothers would inflict such wounds upon their little brother, who did nothing but try and satisfy their unreasonable demands. Retaking his seat next to him Atticus gently rubbed small circles into the boy’s back, not planning on leaving until he was completely sure Chazz wouldn't relapse into what he was when he arrived. Even though Chazz had taken a big step in getting better, there was still an even longer road ahead of him. But from there on out, Atticus had swore to him that he would never have to walk that road alone.


	3. Chapter 3

**3**

Jaden looked out at the ocean from the cliff side behind the Slifer dorm. The waves ebbed and flowed, smashing on the rocks below in a vibrant beauty. Looking off into the distance as the sounds of the ocean made him relaxed and serene, and the afternoon sun shone bright in the sky, covering the island in a calm and warm light, a thought still weighed heavily upon him.

\---

_ “Chazz’s condition is worse than we thought it was.” Atticus informed, standing before the gathered group of friends, a look of melancholy adorning his beautiful face as he looked upon the group. “You see, he's been diagnosed with depression for quite some time now.” he sighed, “And he’s been suffering from panic attacks too.” _

_ “How awful..” Alexis said, a small sigh of disbelief escaping from her lips. It was difficult to process, but from what she knew about his past and what they had seen of his brother's treatment of him, it wasn't too hard to believe.  _

_ “What can be done?” Bastion inquired, an aura of concern surrounding him just as it had encapsulated the rest of the group as they listened to Atticus’ troubling news. None of them had expected anything like this to befall one of their own, but given the circumstances it unfortunately seemed much more likely to be true than any of then thought it would. _

_ “Not much, I don't think.” Atticus shook his head. “At least not by us. But what we can do is support him, and help him to know that we're there for him when he needs us.” _

_ “We’ll do whatever we can, soldier.” Hassleberry declared, nodding his head at Atticus’ statement, “Chazz is our friend, and you’d better believe we’ll do whatever it takes to help him overcome these hard times.” no one could say it any better than that they thought, nodding in agreement with Hassleberry’s declaration. The weight of the responsibility they had taken on was heavy indeed, but they were prepared to bare it together. But even so, Atticus’ smile looked shaky, forced even. Jaden glanced at him discreetly, studying his subtly sullen expression. It seemed his encounter with Chazz affected him more than he thought it would... _

_ \--- _

_ “I still can't believe it..” _ Jaden thought, shaking his head at the memory. It had been about a week since that day, and even still he was having a difficult time processing it all. Sure he had seen Chazz have an attack right before his eyes, heck, his hand still had scratch marks on it for at least a day or two after the fact with Chazz frantically clawing at him like that. But still, it was a shock for all of them to learn the fate their friend had been appointed. And after all of that, from Atticus’ emotionally pained tone and feel, Jaden still felt like there was something Atticus had decided not to tell them. Recalling the fear he felt when he experienced one of Chazz’s attacks first hand. There was something about those moments that put more fear into him than anything Jaden had experienced before. It was a different kind of fear than he’d ever felt in all his years. In a way he understood how shaken Atticus was when he told them what the problem was, but in another way the fear they both felt was different. But the memory of that encounter was etched deeply into Jaden’s mind, remembering it he sank deeply into his thoughts.

\---

_ “What's wrong with you, Chazz??”  _

_ Chazz nearly screamed when he turned back around. Looking forward with his eyes widened in a panic he looked back at Jaden as he had his hand clamped tightly around Chazz’s wrist. Chazz began blinking quickly, panting quickly in a panic he struggled hard against Jaden, only to have his grip tighten against Chazz’s tugs and yanks in an attempt to get himself free. _

_ “Get off of me!! Let me go!!” Chazz shouted in fear, his heart pounding in a panic induced frenzy, pulling hard against Jaden, frantically scratching at him with his free hand. _

_ “What are you doing!? Have you lost your mind!?” Jaden shouted back, grabbing at Chazz’s free hand and holding him tightly and securely in his grasp, pulling him in a little closer “This is exactly what I'm talking about! You need help!” _

_ “No! Leave me alone!!” Chazz yelled back, his eyes screwed shut as he pushed hard against the Slifer, breaking his hold on the boy and causing him to stumble and fall down catching himself on the bed, Chazz turned and backed away from Jaden before he could get back up and restrain him again. Covering his face with his hands Chazz tried to keep himself from hyperventilating, making an attempt to control his breathing but only serving fail as his heart pounded harder and harder, making his whole body tremble.  _

_ “Chazz..” _

_ Lifting his head back up Chazz looked back at the Slifer slightly, keeping his face partially hidden from him, his voice lowered and wavered slightly _

_ “Get out.” Chazz commanded, turning fully back to the brunette, pointing back to the doorway of the small dorm room, his head lowered so the brunette couldn't see the tears forming in his beautiful black eyes. _

_ “But Chazz-" _

_ “-I said GET OUT!!”  _

_ Scrambling to get fully back upon his feet Jaden scampered quickly passed Chazz consumed in his own small aura in fear of what he had unintentionally done. Ripping the door open he stopped in the doorway, looking back at the trembling boy.  _

_ “Chazz I-" _

_ “-GO!!” Chazz growled, storming over to the brunette, shoving him violently out of the door before slamming it hard in his face.  _

\---

“Jaden?”

Snapping out of his memories, Jaden turned to the familiar, high pitched voice. His face softening as he saw his blue haired best friend standing a short distance away, a quizzical expression adorning his cute, boyish face. 

“What are you doing out here all by yourself?” Syrus asked, tilting his head slightly as he inquired about his friend’s current activities, “Something on your mind, Jay?”

“Just thinking about what Atticus told us the other day.” Jaden answered, keeping his deep brown eyes fixed on the big gray ones looking back at him. “You know, about Chazz.”

“About his depression?”

“Yeah, exactly.” Jaden nodded, “You see Sy, I feel like maybe..Atticus wasn't telling us the whole story.” he explained, thinking back again on the day he told them about it. It was clear that Atticus had been deeply affected by his time alone with Chazz in that state, not unlike Jaden himself. But it was also like he knew more than he was letting on. He could tell by the emotions in Atticus’ shining chocolate eyes that he was shaken by something deeper than just Chazz having depression and no one knowing until then. “Like, maybe there's something more to the whole thing, you know?”

“You think so?” Syrus asked, wondering exactly what it was Jaden meant by  _ something more _ . “Do you really think Atticus would hide things from us about this? Seems a little strange to me.” it wasn't like the elder student to be necessarily secretive from their experience with him. It  _ was  _ odd to think of him hiding potentially important details about their mutual friend’s mental health. But then again, Atticus  _ was  _ quite odd at times upon further observation of his habits and behavior. Especially his tendency to walk around in a Hawaiian shirt playing a Ukulele all the time when they weren't attending class of any kind. That was normal, but he wasn't exactly known for keeping secrets.

“W-Well I don't know for sure or anything,” Jaden answered, shrugging his shoulders in response to his friend’s remark, “it just seemed like there was something more to the story.” 

“I guess so.” Syrus shrugged back, thinking back himself to what Atticus had told them. But mostly he thought about what he had been told about Chazz’s outbursts of panic beforehand. It honestly scared him to think about what Atticus and Jaden had experienced that day. He never thought one of his friends could be hurt so badly as to be driven to living at the mercy of attacks like that. Least of all Chazz...he always seemed so strong and held together before. But it seemed you never really could know a person completely, even a close friend.

“Either way, how’s things?” Jaden asked, turning the subject away from Atticus for a time. No sense bumming people out with his speculations and theories when he didn’t have the proof to make them hold water. “Still got that card crush of yours? Which one was it again? Thunder Nyan Nyan?” 

“J-Jaden!” Syrus’ already massive eyes widened, his body stiffened and his face took on a color about as red as Jaden’s coat at the mention of his one true 2D love. Not that he would ever be ashamed of his love for the lovely duel monster. But the subject had just come completely out of left field, catching him off guard. Jaden chuckled at his friend’s outburst. Trying to change the subject to something less depressing, he just said the first thing that popped into his head. He didn’t mean to embarrass the precious bluenette, but his reaction was simply priceless. Smiling sweetly for a moment his smile transformed into his usual cheeky grin as he walked over to the smaller boy, patting his shoulder, continuing to laugh.

“I’m just messin’ with ya, Sy.” 

“V-Very funny, Jay.” Syrus stuttered, still blushing up a storm from Jaden’s question before. His shocked and embarrassed expression slowly evolving into a smile, the two friends shared a hearty laugh together on the cliff side. Times like these were precious to Jaden, enjoying every moment he could with his friends for as long as he could was extremely important to him. Not having many friends growing up he was overjoyed to have such a large group of incredible friends. But even so, he was sad knowing that one of them was going through hard times. Looking back to the Slifer dorm, Jaden made a silent vow to do whatever he could to help him.

__________________________

 

“That was a great duel, Bastion.” Alexis said, smiling as she walked over to her opponent, extending her hand for a friendly handshake.

“Yes, I too enjoyed the match.” Bastion agreed, smiling gently as he took her hand and shook it thusly in good sportsmanship. “You gave me quite the challenge. Your skills are quite exemplary! Maybe even a rival of my own.”

“Yeah? Well she  _ still  _ beat you pretty bad for someone who  _ might  _ be as good as you.” Hassleberry teased from the sidelines, chuckling to himself at Bastion’s arrogance in that moment. Of course he was usually quite the gentleman so he was kinda asking for the harmless ridicule

“Y-Yes well..” Bastion stuttered, his face reddening as Hassleberry and Alexis continued to laugh at him. In the most loving way of course for their dear disillusioned friend. “You're right. I must work harder if I'm ever going to defeat you, Alexis. It seems your natural dueling prowess surpassed my formulas.”

“And that's the whole idea.” Alexis said, taking her deck from her duel disk and holding it gently to her heart, pressing it against her chest. “You can't win with just numbers and science. It's about trusting your cards and your own abilities.” Smiling softly as she clutched her deck in her hands, she thought back on her time at the Academy and with her friends.

_ “Jaden used to always say things like that…” _

“Yes, of course.” Bastion agreed, looking down at his own deck for a moment. “Although, I can't simply abandon my own tactics.”

“Well no, that's not what Lex is sayin’. But you get the point, right?” Hassleberry asked, raising an eyebrow at their intellectually apt friend. Sometimes he was too smart to understand the simplest concepts. He tended to over think and over analyze these things, only deluding the concept and occasionally himself as well.

“Oh no, I understand the concept.” Bastion nodded, aware of what the two were saying to him. 

“I look forward to another duel, Bastion.” Alexis said, smiling as she put her deck back in the duel disk situated comfortably on her left arm. “You really put up a tough fight. I'm impressed.”

“Well thank you, Alexis.” Bastion smiled, thinking back on the awesome duel the two had had before. Normally a practice duel wasn't something they did to pass the time, but it just seemed like a fun idea. Besides the two of them had never dueled each other before, and Alexis was keen on experiencing a new opponent, which Bastion was happy to oblige to. Especially since they had nothing better to do with their time at the moment. They had been practically babying Chazz since they found out about his depression. Of course not being too overbearing, that wouldn't do anything to help the poor boy, in fact it could potentially make it even worse. But they had all done their best to take care of him over the past week, with the typical Chazz levels of resistance at first. But after the group kept insisting on collectively being his mother, he gave in to their care. But after a week of making sure he took his medicine, seeing that he was eating every meal and just generally being sure he was taking care of himself and taking care of him in return, the group decided to give Chazz a day to himself, leaving him to his own devices. But with nothing else to do a duel definitely seemed like a good idea. 

“Either of you seen Chazz today?” Hassleberry asked, thinking for a moment about their dear friend after leaving him be all day. 

“Yeah, I saw him taking a walk this morning.” Alexis answered, deactivating her duel disk as she recalled the encounter from hours ago, “He’s doing just fine. I think we're starting to make progress with him. At least a little bit.”

“Well I certainly wouldn't expect too much after only a week.” Bastion added, analyzing their friend’s situation, “Recovery of this scale takes a great deal of time, and often professional help. There's only so much we can do for him.”

“Yeah, that's true..” Hassleberry sighed, shaking his head slowly in response to their friend’s newly discovered situation. “I guess all we can do is hope that our help is enough to keep him stable for a while.” 

Alexis and Bastion nodded in agreement. In truth, they were very worried about Chazz. Worried that their help wouldn't be enough to save him. Chazz was tricky to deal with even before they knew about the sorry state of his mental health, though the revelation was certainly a very potent shock for the friend group. Neither of them had ever really had to deal with issues like depression before. Of course there was all of Syrus’ past issues, but that was completely different from what Chazz was going through. It was a scary subject for most of them. And in all honesty they didn't know what to do, or what would actually be helpful. As they stood there in the arena, the three friends thought about everything that had happened in the passed week. They had all spent so much time taking care of Chazz, but they worried that what they had done and were doing wasn't enough, or wasn't even helping at all. Sure he seemed to be doing just fine with their help, but he seemed fine to them before and they didn't even know something was wrong with him. 

_ “What if...what if we're not helping at all..?”  _ Alexis thought, placing the nail of her right thumb between her teeth, pressing down gently to hold her finger in place as she wrapped her left arm around her waist. She harbored a great fear, not unlike Jaden or Atticus did. But the thought scared her more than anything had before. More than anything the three of them shared one common fear. What if they couldn't save him…?

________________________

 

Far away from Academy Island, back on the mainland, a dark plan was hatching. Among the hustle and bustle of the city, a tall, dark building loomed overhead. The Kaiba Corporation wasn't the only major organization in Japan after all. The Princeton family had also placed it's HQ in the Land of the Rising Sun, though their aim wasn't to be the world's largest gaming corporation. Instead, there was something else completely on the minds of the Princeton family's leaders. World domination.

Sitting in the immaculate office atop the organization's highest floor was Slade, the eldest Princeton brother, and now head of the family. Accompanied by Jagger, the middle brother. The atmosphere about the office was heavy to say the least. The two had been discussing a very important matter, the subject matter however wasn't quite desirable for a typical exchange.

“And you've thought this through?” Jagger inquired, raising an eyebrow at his elder brother's proposal. “I agree, but what of the risks involved? It wouldn't be in our best interest to endanger our reputation.”

“I know. But no one is going to find out.” Slade stated, his eyes cold and focused, completely void of emotion almost. “And if they do it'll already be too late. Besides as much as I hate to admit it we  _ need  _ Chazz to reach our goal and take over this world! And that little ‘power’ of his could be the key to the whole plan!” he slammed his fist down hard on the surface of the ebony desk as his eyes narrowed, the sound reverberating through the large room. Grabbing the report he was given on their youngest brother and clenching it in his fist, Slade glared back at Jagger “He won't just come to us on his own, so we'll bring him by force.”

“I agree.” Jagger nodded, smirking along with his own twisted thoughts. “I already hired some...professionals, if you will. They're on their way to meet us as we speak.” chuckling deviously as he thought about what the two brothers had planned for their youngest. “Chazz will be in our possession by tomorrow. Then, we can do whatever we need to with him.”

“Good.” Slade said, swirling his desk chair around so that he was overlooking the view of the city from the large window serving as the wall behind the desk. “It's time we put Chazz back in his place.”

“Of course.” Jagger agreed, turning to the sound of the heavy double doors to the office swinging open, revealing a small group of three individuals. A large and quite muscular man, a smaller scrawnier man, and a skinny woman of average build. Letting the doors slam together behind them, the three entered the room as Slade swirled back around in his chair in response to the sound of the slamming doors.

“So, you hired us?” The woman asked, crossing her arms and situating her weight on her right leg, leaning slightly as she examined the two suits in front of her. Scoffing quietly, she lowered her head for a second before looking back up, glancing at them through her nearly platinum blonde hair. “What's the job?”

“You've been hired to bring this boy to us.” Jagger informed, pulling a photo of Chazz out of the manila folder he carried in his arms, extending it to the group as it was grabbed by the smaller man, who examined it for a moment with the bigger man before handing it to the woman, who examined the photo herself with a stark frown on her face. “By any means necessary.”

“So you want us to kidnap some kid?” The smaller man asked, raising an eyebrow at the two businessmen before them, placing a hand on his hip in turn. “No problem.”

“That  _ kid  _ is our brother.” Slade informed, narrowing his eyes at the smaller man opposite him and Jagger “Chazz Princeton.”

“I figured.” The woman said under her breath, her hard expression retaining its strength as she stashed the photo in her top, sliding it in between her bra and her breast, as she didn't have anywhere else to put it on her person at that moment. “Kidnapping a kid like him, that's asking quite a bit, you know.” she crossed her arms again, keeping her eyes narrowed, and fixated on the elders. “Lots of time and effort. Not to mention patience. I don't take kindly to spoiled brats.”

“You'll be paid very handsomely for your services.” Jagger said, nodding back to Slade who nodded in return.

“That's right.” The elder agreed, standing up from his desk and joining the middle brother before the hired kidnappers, his tone more serious and harsh than before. “But he is  _ not  _ to be harmed.” he commanded, letting the warning in his tone show. “We need him in prime condition when you deliver him back to us. If either of you hurts him, you'll be lucky if we pay you anything at all.”

“It sounds more like he's an object to you than a little brother.” The bigger man deduced, looking over to his partners, wondering what they were thinking about all of this. Not that the situation was anything unlike other jobs they'd had before. They were professional kidnappers after all.

“Doesn't matter.” The smaller man added, shaking his head at his partner's statement. “As long as we get paid, It doesn't matter what the job is, or why.”

“I agree.” The woman nodded, her own hard expression somehow even harder thinking about the possibility of not getting paid. “Fine. The kid’ll be unharmed. Mostly.”

“Mostly?” Slade’s eyebrow raised suspiciously at her statement, “I told you he is not to be harmed.”

“Well you know how it is.” She continued, “Kid’s bound to fight back, and if we have to rough him up a little to get him, then that's how it'll work. Besides there's no fun in it if we don't have a struggle.” 

“That's the best part of the job after all.” The smaller man added, chuckling quietly to himself, shaking his head as he thought about the thrill of the hunt so to speak. Looking back at the woman for a moment he turned his gaze back to the two brothers. “But of course, we’ll abide by your conditions. Being our clients and all.”

“Good.” Jagger said, pulling a form from the aforementioned manila folder, extending it to the woman, clearly the boss of the three kidnappers. “Now, I've taken the liberty of having a contract drawn up.” after the woman snatched the form from his hand, Jagger pulled a pen from his suit’s chest pocket, extending it as well to the woman. “Sign it.”

“An actual contract?” the muscular man observed, glancing over his feminine boss to catch a glimpse of the legally binding document. “You're very serious about this kidnapping, aren't you?”

“The contact states that if you break our deal, you'll receive no pay. And if we deem it necessary, my brother and I will have you turned over to the authorities. After all, you kidnap for a living. A highly illegal act.” Jagger explained, his own tone as serious as his brother's. 

“I hate people like you.” the woman murmured, rolling her eyes as she signed the form, since she really didn't have any other choice. After all they had been hired, terms had been set, and they had to abide by their client’s wishes. Handing the form and pen back to the middle Princeton, she crossed her arms again, frustrated with how picky they were being about one kid. 

“It's been a pleasure doing business with you.” Slade said, taking the contract from Jagger, folding it and placing it into his own suit coat pocket for safe keeping. Not about to let something as powerful as that out of his sight. “Now, I want the job done. Tonight.”

“You don't play around, do you?” The woman observed, crossing her arms again as she looked on with disdain for their employers. Though she’d hated clients far more than them, the two brothers just frustrated her. Not that that would stop her from doing the job she and her lackeys had been hired to do. With a handsome sum of money on the line, there was no choice. Though they wouldn't turn the job down no matter how much or little they were to be paid. After all, money was money, and money makes the world go ‘round as most people would say. “You're asking a lot from us you know.”

“We’ll send you to the island in one of our helicopters. It's been outfitted to keep the noise to a minimum, for stealth purposes of course.” Jagger explained, his face retaining an ever stoic expression. “Now go. We want him by tomorrow at the latest.”

“Fine, fine.” The smaller man conceded, shaking his head as a small sigh escaped from him. “But you’d better believe we expect a fat load of cash for this. Kidnapping rich brats from a swanky prep school in the middle of nowhere isn't exactly apart of our usual clientele.”

“I assure you.” Slade reassured, “You will be paid very handsomely for your work. Of course, provided that our terms have been abided by.”

“Shouldn't be a problem.” the bigger man nodded, looking to the others in his company, expecting the same response from them. Following the orders of their clients was never really an issue for the titular group of kidnappers.

“If he doesn't tempt my patience too much, then sure. The kid won't get hurt.” She agreed, patting her right breast where she had placed the picture of Chazz for safekeeping before turning away from the two older brothers, raising her left arm into the air, using her hand to signal to the double doors before taking a few steps forwards. “Let's go, boys.” she chuckled, “We’ve got a kid to catch.” 

Nodding quickly the two males in her company turned quickly on their heels, the smaller of the two shooting off a cheeky salute to the two men earning a disapproving sneer from the both of them in the process. Taking her sweet time with her haste she led the group out of the office, rolling her eyes at the thought of how the brothers looked so far down upon her and her merry band. As the last of them exited, the doors slammed together as loudly as they had when they arrived. The sound reverberating through what felt like the entire building. Slade and Jagger looked to one another, nodding in approval of what they had just done. Returning to his desk Slade swirled his chair back to the large window accenting the back wall of his office, enjoying the feeling of a plan well hatched in his eyes.

“What do you plan to do once we have Chazz?” Jagger questioned, not familiar with the entirety of Slade’s supposed master plan apart from kidnapping Chazz from Academy Island and bringing him back to them. He wasn't yet informed on what Slade was actually planning to  _ do  _ with him.

“I plan on taking advantage of that power of his.” Slade explained, “once I know how he can communicate with duel monsters, that could be our ticket to ruling the dueling world! And once we've accomplished that, the entire world will belong to us.” Slade’s expression in that moment turned more sinister than it had before. In a way that could convey his dark intentions to anyone in the world if they only looked at his face. “And I'll do whatever it takes to make that happen. Even if it costs Chazz his own life. His power  _ will _ be ours. I'm going to have him studied, to determine where it comes from, and how it works and can be potentially harvested.” his explanation continued, Jagger listening intently to what his elder had to say. “I've had our scientists compile a series of experiments and tests to perform on him. And if damage is done then so be it. We've inflicted enough damage on him ourselves, what's a little more?”

“And if it kills him?” Jagger asked, raising an eyebrow at his brother. “What then?”

“Then we were never involved.” Slade stated plain. His voice was flat and emotionless as he spoke, “If it comes to that, then he was kidnapped by an evil, heartless woman and her entourage, and murdered. And therein lie his poor distraught older brothers, who were too late to save him.” He chuckled darkly, swirling his chair back around to face Jagger, his expression turned slightly softer than before. “Of course I doubt it will come to that. Besides, it's not in our best interest to let him get killed.”

Jagger nodded in agreement with his brother's contingency plan. But also the idea of not  _ actually  _ killing their little brother. Their past treatment of him was one thing that didn't quite phase either of them at all, but the idea of killing someone wasn't exactly a pleasurable thought to either of them. In all honesty it was more trouble than it was worth. The office went quiet, the thick and dark atmosphere hung heavy about the space. There was an almost sinister presence about the two brothers as they stood and sat in silence until as the sun began to slowly descend from its place in the sky as evening set itself upon the city, inviting an entirely new evil feeling into the malevolent space. A malevolence that would only invite even more pain and misery for the youngest and most fragile Princeton brother, who was completely unaware of the fate his brothers had in store for him.

 


	4. Chapter 4

**4**

Chazz stepped onto the deck outside the Slifer Red dorm as night had fallen on the island, taking a much needed break from the obnoxious Ojama’s overtaking his room, besides just needing a break in general. His young life had never been an easy or stress free one, his road through life had been lined with hardships and misfortune that never ceased to strain his damaged heart and soul more than they had already been.

_ “How much more can I take..?”  _ he thought, looking down at his hands. Without cards in them, his hands shook and trembled with nothing to secure them around. Chazz scoffed under his breath, lowering his hands and closing them tightly around the deck’s railing. His hands hadn’t trembled like that since his last encounter with his brothers. And back then, it wasn’t just his hands that trembled. His whole body shook, overcome with in all honesty...fear. After all his brothers had abused him for years, forcing him to comply with their plan for world domination by the Princeton family. Just thinking about that time sent shivers down his spine, and his chest tightened, paired with the sudden feeling of being stabbed in the heart with a shard of burning glass. Chazz shook his head quickly, trying to shake off the feelings and the memories. It was too much to bare..

_ “Come on, Chazz…”  _ He lifted his right hand to his face, placing it over his right eye,  _ “you’re better than this, they can’t hurt you anymore. Your friends are there to protect you. They've been doing their best to help you, now stop acting so weak!”  _

“Hey, what’s wrong, Boss?”

Chazz’s eye twitched at the annoying sound of Ojama Yellow’s voice breaking his much needed silence. But such was the norm for the poor tormented youth. Never a moment’s peace to be had with the Ojama spirits floating around him at all times. Especially Yellow, who had been with him the longest and was not even debatably the most irritating.

“Will you just shut up and leave me alone!?” Chazz commanded, raising his voice at the little pest floating around his head. Sometimes he wondered if he had gone insane, and that was why he saw the little urchins at all. But of course he knew better since he knew Jaden could see the spirits too, and they couldn’t both be insane. Well actually they could, but he knew better than that and he knew it. “What are you doing out here anyway?? Get out of here you pest!”

“But Boss, my card is in your pocket. I knew you wanted my company!” The little imp floated happily in circles around Chazz’s head, stopping after about three rotations and hugging him tightly on his face, earning a well deserved growl from his temperamental young master.

“Get off of me!!” Chazz snarled, swatting away the little spirit like he was a fly or mosquito buzzing all around his head constantly. Which is more or less what he and the other Ojama’s were to him. Annoying little bugs that just would not go away, no matter how much he wanted them to. It seemed that they would just never get the point, would they? Of course knowing that only served to make them even more annoying than they already were, knowing that he would probably be stuck with them forever at this point. Raising an eyebrow in confusion as he recalled what Yellow had said to him, placing his hand inside his coat pocket Chazz widened his eyes for a moment as his hand returned indeed holding the Ojama Yellow card between his slender, dainty fingers.

_ “How did this get here?” _ He thought, examining the small card in his hand. Not that is was too big a deal, he always had his cards with him but he didn't remember putting the Ojama Yellow card in his pocket at all that day  _ “Must have slipped in there at some point. Whatever.”  _ he shrugged, shoving the trading card back into his coat pocket. Rolling his eyes at himself for even wondering about it or indulging the little creature by looking in the first place. Looking back out at the island around him shrouded in the night’s darkness, he sighed. There was a different feel in the air on the island at nightfall. The aura was harsher, lonelier even, with everything so quiet, hardly a sound was heard around him. This feeling of isolation, it wasn't unknown to Chazz. In fact he felt it all the time, swept up in a sea of loneliness that he felt like he could never escape from. Chazz felt like he was drowning in his inner darkness. Desperately reaching out for someone to grab his hand and pull him out as he struggled against the downward force, pulling him deeper and deeper down into the abyss. All the times he had cried for help while the nightmare tormented him in the night and even during the day, and nobody came. Sure he had Atticus and the others around to help him now, but it hadn’t made much of a difference, it was a lot harder to get through these things than with just having people to take care of him. Chazz leaned forward, his elbows placed firmly on the banister of the deck to support him as his fingers slid through his hair and dug into his skull. His eyes screwed shut and he grit his teeth, trying to force away the nightmare. He just felt so lost and alone..even though he had Jaden and the others looking out for him as well as each other, it still felt like there was a wall of separation between him and them. Between him and his only salvation.

_ “Nobody understands how I feel.”  _ he thought, keeping his eyes shut tight as his fingers dug deeper and harder into his skull.  _ “How could they..? They haven't been through what I've been through..”  _ his thoughts were all disjointed in his mind, swirling around and around only adding to his confusion.  _ “They’re trying to help, and I appreciate it but that doesn't just make it all go away..”  _ It was all getting to be too much to handle on his own. It seemed like no matter what he did, how much medicine he had to help, the pain and loneliness he felt just wouldn't go away. To him it even felt like it was getting worse. Even with their help..  _ “Please just make it stop!” _

“Boss…?” Yellow asked quietly, concerned about his young master. Floating down over to the banister he hovered next to Chazz, taking a look at his face with his own worried expression. Chazz’s eyes were screwed shut with tears resting on the sides of them, slowly dripping down his snow white face. His breath was quick and uneven, and Ojama Yellow worried that his teeth would bite clean through his bottom lip seeing how hard he was biting. Fully aware of his master's mental health problems by now after a few breakdowns he had witnessed, he thought to grab Chazz’s medicine until he remembered what had happened earlier that week. “Are you okay, Bo-" 

Chazz popped his head up, roused out of his hallucination by Ojama Yellow’s loud, annoying cry. Swiftly turning to the monster his blood began to boil with the animosity he felt towards the little guy.

“WHAT?!” He shouted, glaring  deeply at the imp, “What are you screaming about!?”

“T-There’s something out there!!” Yellow cried, quickly hiding behind the teen, poking out over his shoulder to point the way. “Out there!” he pointed his little arm as Chazz looked in that direction, “In the woods!!” 

Chazz looked where the spirit pointed, his senses placing him on alert. Squinting slightly, he saw unexplained lights coming through the trees accompanied by a few quiet sounds. Raising an eyebrow in intrigue, never seeing anything like that in the middle of the night on the island. Or during the day, even. Hurrying back into his dorm, Chazz grabbed his deck and his duel disk off of the desk by his bed, placing the Ojama Yellow card back into his deck he secured the duel disk on his left arm and slid the deck into the slot before heading back outside. Perplexed by what could be going on out in the woods, he slowly walked down the stairs to the ground level, inspecting the immediate area around him before moving closer to the surrounding woods, keeping a sharp eye out for anything potentially dangerous.

“I-I don't know about this, boss..” Yellow whined, glancing around quickly and fearfully as he followed the teen further into the trees, “Shouldn't we get Jaden or something..? It could be dangerous out here..”

“Just be quiet, will you??” Chazz spat out in an irritated whisper, glaring at the duel spirit following him, turning his gaze back forward and keeping his voice low and quiet. “And we don't need him. Whatever’s out here I'm sure it's nothing ‘The Chazz’ can't handle.” taking a few cautious steps forward he came upon a small clearing, keeping in the trees as he looked around to see if the coast was clear. It had been a little while since he had seen the odd lights. It was extremely dark that night with only a little bit of moonlight overhead, so any light at all would be clearly visible. Keeping his eyes front and his wits about him, with his duel disk at the ready he took a step out into the clearing. Glancing around as Ojama Yellow clung to his shoulder, fearfully whimpering quietly as the overly wary creature was scared of pretty much everything. But the air about the clearing seemed..unsettling even to Chazz. It was too quiet.

“I've got a bad feeling about this…” Chazz whispered quietly, taking another step further into the clearing, his guard only increasing with every passing moment. Something just wasn't right. The atmosphere around the teen and the spirit was heavier and darker in origin, raising the tension and uneasiness that the two felt. “We should probably go back..” taking another glance around the clearing Chazz began to turn slowly and cautiously back in the direction he came.

“Boss look out!!” Yellow cried out, pointing in the direction Chazz was turning, “Behind you!!”

Chazz quickly whirled around fully at the behest of the frightened spirit, his eyes widening and taking a quick step back as he saw a dark figure looming over him. The figure was nearly completely shrouded by the night but Chazz could tell it was an adult man standing over him. Quickly and instinctively  reaching for his deck and activating his duel disk in self defense before he heard a rustling in the bushes on both sides of him, distracting him as he quickly turned his head to both sides two figures on either side of Chazz ran at him, while the man before him grabbed him by the shoulders. Whirling him around and holding him tight, clamping his hand over Chazz’s mouth before he could yell for aid.

             “Boss!!” Yellow cried, helplessly watching as there was nothing he could do to help his beloved master. The two other figures reached them, the smaller female shaped one yanking the duel disk from Chazz’s arm, extracting the deck before throwing the disk on the ground at her feet. Chazz struggled and fought against the bigger man holding him against his chest, trying to bite at the meaty hand clamped tightly over his mouth, impairing his speech and keeping him from calling for help. The smaller male figure took something out of what looked like a satchel of some kind that he was wearing. Releasing Chazz from his grasp, the bigger man placed his hands on Chazz’s shoulders, violently shoving him down onto the ground below him. 

             “Hey!” Chazz shouted now that his mouth was uncovered, scrambling to get himself up off of the ground before the bigger man placed his foot on Chazz’s back, applying just enough pressure to keep him down. “What's the big ide-” before he could finish his sentence the smaller male kneeled down next to him and placed a thick cloth over his mouth, tying it tightly so he couldn't get it off. The woman also kneeled down on the opposite side of the smaller man, placing Chazz’s deck down next to her, for a moment Chazz took that moment to make a move, throwing out his arm and striking the deck, scattering the cards over the small area around them. He knew that if she had his deck, that they planned to take it along with him. Chazz had hoped that if he could spread the cards enough that they would miss one, hopefully Ojama Yellow, his most trusted creature. And that the little spirit would find a way to tell Jaden and the others what misfortune befell him here, knowing that Jaden would be the only one who could see and hear the spirit. 

           “Oh you little brat!” The woman shouted upon the scattering of the cards, her voice was deep in pitch with a softer element to it despite her very harsh tone. Slapping Chazz across the face before gathering the cards back into one pile she quickly moved them out of his reach before grabbing his arms and forcing them behind his back, holding them tightly and with a strength not expected from a woman of her not exactly large stature and thin size, though she wasn't short by any means. The larger man kneeled down, moving to hold his legs down so he couldn't kick at them while he struggled to get free from the attackers holding him down. The smaller man pulled another object from the satchel around his shoulders, revealing it to be a few strands of rope he quickly yet expertly tied the rope tightly around Chazz’s wrists securing them together before the woman picked Chazz slightly up off the ground, while the smaller man fed the rope through under him, reaching over Chazz and picking up the other end of the rope he wrapped it around Chazz’s chest about five or so times before tying it tight and strong, restricting his movement further.

            “Here.” The smaller man said, tossing another rope over to the larger, who in turn tied Chazz’s ankles together before hoisting him up from the ground and back onto his feet. Chazz glared at the attackers and continued to struggle while the larger man held him in place as the woman walked up to him, her own features becoming slightly more visible at the closer proximity. Her eyes were cold and icy from what he could see, her hair was decently short which he saw before but now he could see the blonde color reflecting in the moonlight now that he wasn't squirming around quite as much. She shot her own glare at him for a moment, still irritated from him knocking his cards all over the place. Taking her glove covered hand up she placed it on his pale face, her expression changing slightly as her eyebrow raised, and she let out a slight chuckle.

             “I feel like you're more trouble than you're worth.” She said, her deep mature voice sounding with an air of malevolence. “But too bad for you, we're being paid a fortune for you.” Chazz shook his head getting her hand away from his face, glaring deeper at her than he had before. Her expression hardening again she brought her hand swiftly across his face once more, extending him a strong backhand smack before grabbing her hand tightly around his face, bringing her own closer to his. “You're lucky your brothers don't want you harmed, kid.” she growled as Chazz’s eyes widened in fear and surprise at the mention of his older brothers, “Now behave. Before you really start to test our patience.”

            Chazz couldn't believe what he had heard. He inferred that he was being kidnapped, but he couldn't imagine why. And even now he couldn't understand. Why would his brothers want him kidnapped when they didn't want anything to do with him anymore? What did they want him for and why? Suddenly the ground beneath Chazz’s feet disappeared from under him, the gravitational forces all around him shifted as he was hoisted over the larger man’s shoulder like a sack of flour, smacking his chin on the man’s thick and meaty back, stunned for a quick moment Chazz blinked rapidly, regaining what little composure he could muster up after learning his brothers were the ones having him kidnapped for whatever reason he couldn’t possibly think of for them to want to do this. Feeling the man’s arm wrap around his legs and the other over his back, keeping him situated in place he tried to struggle again, only succeeding in achieving a slight wiggle, muttering muffled insults and curses as his frustration levels began to rise, overtaking the panic he was already feeling even before the revelation he had been given before. 

“Knock it off, kid!” The smaller man commanded as the bigger man tightened his hold on Chazz, securing him in place as he continued to try and fight against his kidnappers. 

“HOLD ON BOSS! WE’LL SAVE YOU!!” Ojama Yellow’s voice cut through the air, piercing through the sound barrier as the screeching sound of the imp’s shout reached Chazz’s ears. Looking up from the lovely view of the ground he was given as best he could his eyes beheld the three Ojama spirits rushing towards him, clear expressions of anger and determination slapped onto their faces as they headed toward their beloved boss. Appreciative of their intentions but with the knowledge of how useless their attempt at an early rescue was, Chazz shook his head, shooting them a dirty look for being so stupid. Though he certainly wouldn't turn down the rescue if he had a choice. But unfortunately the little spirits were just that. Spirits. There wasn't anything they could do for him that would be of any help. Unless of course his plan worked out and the decidedly very rude woman who had slapped him twice missed an Ojama after he had scattered his deck before.

“Get your grubby hands off our boss!” Black demanded as they barreled towards them, completely prepared to ram right into the large man constricting and restraining their dear boss, already feeling the desperation to save him. 

“We won't let you take him you meanies!” Green added with a clearly audible emotional tone. In all honesty Green was the most emotional Ojama aside from Yellow himself. There really wasn't much contest about that. Not even bothering to disillusion himself with the idea of being rescued Chazz kept his head up to look at the annoying spirits as they were only mere feet away now, screwing his eyes shut he shook his head and did his best to shout at the little monsters, his cries coming through as a muffled mess of assorted sounds through the thick gag over his mouth impairing his speech. The three kidnappers stopped and looked at him, shooting Chazz and themselves odd glances before the woman rolled her eyes and frowned, stepping in front of Chazz unknowingly intercepting the Ojama’s path causing them to smack into her back, over dramatically scattering the imps every which way. Keeping a strong stance and cold expression she took her right hand and quickly and powerfully brought the back of it around and across his cheek, the sound of the impact causing a soft wave of sound to reverberate through the small clearing, stopping him from thrashing about. 

“Enough!” She commanded as Chazz’s head fell back down, his chin colliding again with the back of the large man holding onto him. Her eyes cold and narrow as she quietly shouted at the boy, doing her best to control her temper and keep their presence as hidden as possible. “No one is around to help you, and nobody can hear you! You're ours now so knock it off and behave!”

“We don't  _ want  _ to hurt you, kid.” The smaller man added, joining the woman in front of Chazz, placing his pointer finger under his chin, and hoisting Chazz’s head back up so he could look the boy in the eyes. “But we  _ will _ if you don't stop fighting us. So,” he continued, reaching into the satchel around his shoulder with his free hand the smaller man pulled out what in the moonlight looked like a small little dart or something like that, clearly filled with what Chazz assumed was some kind of tranquilizer or drug to subdue him. “I've got a solution that will make this  _ much  _ easier.” Chazz’s eyes widened in a slight burst of fear as the smaller man chuckled darkly to himself before jamming small dart into his left shoulder “Have a nice nap, kiddo.”

Letting out a muffled shout as the point to the dart stuck into the skin of his shoulder through his coat and shirt. Despite his small size and average stature there was no doubt that just like the woman, this man was stronger than he appeared to be. Looking back to his kidnappers Chazz felt his eyelids droop and grow heavy and the edges of his vision blackened and blurred as he was powerless to maintain consciousness his world disappeared as his body went limp, his head drooped down again without him being awake to hold it up even with the smaller man’s finger under it. 

“Kid's out cold.” The bigger man surmised by the limpness of the boy’s body in his arms, letting the arm around Chazz’s legs fall, no longer needing to restrict his movement as he was unconscious. 

“Good.” The woman scoffed under her breath, taking steps forwards in the direction of the pier, where they had landed the stealth copter, motioning for the others to follow her, “Now let's go. His brothers want him by tomorrow morning. And I don't know about the two of you, but  _ I'd   _ like to be paid for this brat.”

“Sure thing.” The smaller nodded, lightly punching the bigger’s shoulder before light footedly hurrying to follow their cold hearted leader before the bigger man followed suit as well, carrying Chazz’s limp, unconscious form over his shoulder like a sack of flour, disappearing from sight in the night’s darkness.

“Oh no! Boss!!” Yellow cried, regaining his senses in time to watch the titular kidnappers whisk Chazz away into the woods. Breaking down into a small fit of over dramatic tears Ojama Yellow sank down to the grassy ground, wailing pathetically at the loss of his master, fully aware that even if he did follow them there was nothing he could do to help the moody teen. All he could do in that moment was mourn his loss for the time being. Looking up from his tears for a moment Yellow saw the glinting of Chazz’s rudely discarded duel disk which the mean woman had tossed aside after stealing his deck from the slot. Pathetically crawling over to the disk Yellow caught another glimpse of a familiar object around the general area of the disk. Gasping in surprise Yellow beheld his own card lying among the grass a short distance off from Chazz’s duel disk shrouded in the shadow of one of the surrounding trees. Upon the realization he had been left behind, Yellow’s little heart skipped a beat. There was still hope of rescuing Chazz, but it all rested upon his little yellow shoulders. But until the opportunity arose for him get the word to Jaden, the only one who would be able to hear him, the fate of Chazz’s entire future still hung in the balance.


	5. Chapter 5

** 5 **

****

The morning sun slowly rose over the horizon, the passed few hours had taken their toll on Chazz all things considered with the assault and kidnapping he’d been put through completely against his will and at the behest of his elder brothers. Who of course were already responsible for his extremely fragile emotional state and his marred body. Slowly returning to the land of the living Chazz’s eyes cracked open slightly, his eyelids still drooping heavily as he found himself lying on his side in what looked through his tired eyes like the inside of a helicopter. Moaning quietly as he tried to shift his position, only to rediscover that his arms were fastened to his sides with thick and tight ropes and his wrists along with part of his forearms were tied tightly behind his back, constricting his movement. Blinking quickly Chazz began to recall what had happened to him earlier that night, the flash images of his assault and kidnapping speeding through his mind and swirling around his slowly unblurring vision.

“Morning, kid.” A disembodied voice boomed in his ears, despite from coming from somewhere around the helicopter. Glancing around as best he could Chazz could see the outline of an average sized man slightly diagonally across from him on the other side of the copter, seemingly keeping an eye on him while the other man and the woman piloted the craft. The man chuckled to himself as a slight smirk crawled across his smug face, “Sleep well?”

If he had any mobility at all Chazz would’ve had a right mind to walk over and punch the man for even joking about that after jamming the tranquilizing drugs into his shoulder, which in fact was feeling sensitive and sore where the dart had penetrated his paper while, silky skin. Which unfortunately was the shoulder he had to use to support his sideways body and keep himself from tumbling right off of the row of seats he had been laid across. But unfortunately his ankles were still tied together, preventing him from walking. And even if he could walk he still couldn't do anything with his arms bound tightly behind his back, and if they weren't, the first thing he would do would be to rip the gag out of his mouth, as he had discovered how dry and gross it felt after being gagged for most likely several hours. 

“Of course, can't answer me can you?” The man chuckled, walking over to the bound boy he kneeled down in front of him, looking him directly in the eyes. Wrapping his slender hand around Chazz’s face he held him in place so that he couldn't look away as the man spoke to him. “No worries, I think I already know the answer. But you see, had to be done. See we're being payed a very large sum of cash to deliver you to those brothers of yours. A sum we don't plan on passing up, if you catch my drift.” shooting daggers at the man with his beautiful eyes Chazz squirmed and struggled, muttering curses at him as best he could with his lack of the ability to properly use his mouth. 

_ “What do they want with me?”  _ Chazz thought as the man laughed quietly to himself at his futile and pitiful attempt to fight back,  _ “Just to torture me no doubt...they weren't exactly happy when I lost to Jaden back then..I bet without me around they haven't had anyone to beat up, so they had me kidnapped just so they could hurt me again…” _

“We’re getting ready to land.” Chazz and the man looked up to see the woman in the doorway connecting the cockpit with the rest of the copter, leaning against the doorframe her right leg crossed over her left she kept her arms crossed under her chest, her breasts lightly resting on top of her arms as her cold icy eyes looked upon the two in front of her. “Soon you won't be my problem anymore, brat. I'm sure those brothers of yours have something big planned for you. Now behave, I want the exchange to go smoothly.”

“Oh don't you worry, boss.” The smaller man saluted, giving her a cheeky grin. “Even if he wanted to, kid couldn't fight us if he tried.” 

“Good.” She nodded, looking back into the cockpit as the copter’s altitude began to drop, giving Chazz the impression that they had arrived at their destination. “Once we get our cash,  _ then  _ we hand him over. Got it? I don't want to take any chances.”

“Sure, sure.” the man nodded, grabbing Chazz by his shoulders and pulling him into a sitting position, sliding his legs off of the row of seats and situating his feet back onto the floor. “Now don't try going anywhere while we adults talk.” he chuckled, poking fun at the fact that even if Chazz wanted to move, his ankles had been left tied together so he wouldn't be able to walk at all. Glaring back at the man Chazz picked up his feet and rammed them into the man’s left leg, causing him to stumble and nearly fall, catching himself before he fell completely. 

“Dammit!” The man shouted, glaring back at Chazz who was still shooting a glare of his own, clenching his fists he was tempted to beat the kid himself, but that would mean relinquishing their pay, and that would make their boss  _ very  _ unhappy. “You little brat!”

“Don't you lay a finger on him.” The woman scolded as she watched him pull his fist back to hit Chazz who had turned his head away from the man, bracing himself for the impact that never came. “I won't have you ruining this job for us at the last minute do you hear me!?” walking over to the man she grabbed his arm, squeezing her hand around his wrist as her icy eyes narrowed and hardened. “If you harm the brat we don't get the money, so knock it off!”

“Miss.” The bigger man’s deep bellowing voice boomed through the chopper as he came to join the others in the main center, his eyes serious and almost subdued as the door to the chopper slowly opened. “They're here.”

“Good.” She said, releasing the smaller man as she walked over to the opened door to greet their employers, “Long time no see, boys. To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“Cut the theatrics. You know what we're here for, after all we  _ hired  _ you to bring him to us.”

Chazz’s heart stopped as the sound of Slade’s voice cut through him like a knife through a fog. Panic entered his very soul as the anticipation of actually  _ seeing  _ his brothers terrified him, his heart began to pound and his breath began to hasten slightly, making breathing even more difficult through the tightly secured thick gag in his mouth than it already was. Struggling against the tight ropes around his chest, arms, and wrists his panic was beginning to get the better of him, overtaking his fragile, damaged heart and soul.

“Very well, you can have him.” She said, gesturing back to Chazz before crossing her arms again. “ _ But. _ You pay us first.”

“You have no right to make demands!” Jagger shouted, perturbed that she had the nerve to do such a thing.

“Well then, I guess I could just keep your precious little brat.” She shrugged, turning away from the two brothers, gesturing to her goons, who in turn turned back to Chazz, closing in on him as he continued to panic. “If you want him, you'll pay us. Then and only then, will we hand him over.”

“You drive a hard bargain.” Slade growled, motioning for Jagger to hand over the case he carried filled with their payment. “Your pay, as promised. Assuming Chazz is unharmed.”

“He’s fine.” She answered plainly, snatching the case from Jagger and smirking quickly before moving aside, no longer blocking their path. “He’s all yours.”

Slade nodded, walking with Jagger inside of the copter. As soon as they entered his field of vision Chazz’s eyes widened more than they ever had before in his life. It had been more than a year since he'd really seen them, even coming home for school intercessions he had been kept separate from them. The sight of Slade’s confidently smirking face as he laid his own eyes on the boy struck terror into Chazz’s very soul, resurfacing memories he’d rather have forgotten long ago. Memories of the beatings he sustained over his short years, the pain he had grown accustomed to, his brother's hands on his body bruising and scarring his pale flesh, even drawing blood to cause the scars to mar and obscure his previously flawless skin. All the nights he spent in his brothers’ private hospital, held down and forcibly treated so that nobody would know that the elder Princeton's were virtually mutilating the youngest, both physically and mentally, despite his struggles to try and see that somebody would. Somebody with the power to stop them. To save him.

“Long time no see, little brother.” Slade chuckled, taking long and elegant strides closer to the youngest brother, placing his strong, firm hand on Chazz’s trembling body, wrapping his hand around the boy’s shoulder in a slight squeeze as his and Jagger's expressions darkened and Chazz looked on at them in fear. “Welcome home.”

___________________________

 

“Hey Jay, wait for me!” Syrus called after the taller brunette racing down the pathway back to the Slifer dorm in quite a hurry. The sun would have been high in the sky by now if the clouds hadn't won the day's battle for control over the afternoon sky. Jaden raced down the path, his mind stuck in one direction. Worry.

“Chazz hasn't been seen by anyone all day!” Jaden called back to his tiny friend, keeping up his quick pace without even a hint of slowing, “He could be having another breakdown! We have to make sure he's okay!”

“I know, I know! But will you slow down?? Your legs are longer than mine!” Syrus cried, struggling to keep up with his vastly quicker best friend. The group hadn't seen Chazz around the school that entire day. He hadn't come to breakfast, which was concerning enough, but not seeing him in class or really anywhere was what really concerned the friends. They had wondered if he had just taken a day to step back from everything and be alone, but the thought had crossed their minds that he was having more emotional difficulties. A fear that Atticus called attention to, worrying that something had happened to the poor boy. Alexis had suggested that someone go to check on him to make sure he was alright, and Jaden quickly obliged to the suggestion, tearing off from the rest of the group and hurrying back to the dorm, closely followed by Syrus as well. 

Slowing his pace slightly so he wouldn't lose his precious best friend the two headed towards the dorm. Making great time the two boys reached the Slifer dorm in a matter of minutes, taking a moment to catch their breath, Jaden and Syrus headed up to Chazz’s door. Knocking calmly Syrus waited for a moment to see if there was a response before trying again.

“Chazz...?” The little boy called quietly, listening for any indication that he was in there at all. “You there…? Everybody’s worried about you, you haven't been in there all day have you…?”

“He’s not answering, Sy.” Jaden observed, pointing out the obvious like he sometimes was accustomed to doing, “let's just go in.” Pushing gently in front of the small boy Jaden grabbed the door handle, turning it before slowly creeping it open. Peeking inside, Jaden felt like he was in a scene that was all too familiar. The room was dark, the only light coming from the windows and the cracked open door. Tensing for a moment at the memory of what happened before with Chazz, Jaden quickly shook his head, shaking away the memory.

“Jaden…?” Syrus asked, cocking his head slightly as he gave a concerned look to his best friend.

“I'm alright, Sy.” Jaden reassured, opening the door the rest of the way before stepping into the dark dorm room, reaching to the side and feeling around for the lightswitch as his eyes scanned the room while Syrus cautiously followed him inside.

“He’s not here, Jaden..” Syrus observed, scanning the dorm himself as he craned his neck to see around Jaden who was standing mostly in the way of any direction Syrus could go to go any further into the room. “Do you think he's okay…? I mean, he's not here, and no one has seen him since yesterday..”

“I'm sure he's fine, Sy.” Jaden assured, shaking his head in a dismissive manner of what Syrus was implying. “He’s probably off hiding somewhere trying to get some privacy.”

“I don't know…” Syrus worried, taking another glance around the empty room, his eyes locking on one particular detail. “Look, Jaden!” He declared, pointing over to the desk adjacent the rather large bed. “His deck and his duel disk are gone! Doesn't he always leave them on the desk??”

“That's right, he does...that is weird...” Jaden observed, scratching the back of his neck as he tried to think of an explanation, but nothing good came to mind. “Maybe we  _ should  _ go look for him…” the brunette turned quickly on his heels, bringing his hands down on the slender shoulders of the small boy now in front of him, looking him square in his large gray eyes. “You go on and find the others, I'll start looking around here. Okay?”

“Sure thing, Jay.” Syrus nodded, releasing himself from Jaden’s gentle hold before hurrying back to find the rest of the group. Jaden watched for a moment as the tiny and ever faithful bluenette hurried as fast as he could down the path before looking back into the empty dorm room. The room itself was in a much better state than the one he had left it in before. There were no medications sprawled out over the floor, the bed was made and the desk chair was upright. Everything was orderly which was a welcomed change of course. But the absence of Chazz was already concerning  _ without   _ having noticed the missing deck and duel disk. Chazz wouldn't have just gone out looking for a duel or something and just not have gone to class or have been seen by anyone at all. It just didn't make any sense, besides if he were dueling anyone word would spread at the speed of light, as it always did when there was a duel about. None of the pieces added up at all..

_ “Where did you go, Chazz…?”  _ Jaden thought, stepping out of the room and back onto the deck, scanning the area around the Slifer dorm he quickly deduced that he wasn't in that particular area from what he could see.  _ “Did something happen last night or something…? I mean I guess that would explain why nobody’s seen him today, but none of this is making any sense to me..” _

Walking down from the deck Jaden wandered around the general vicinity of the dorm, thinking about where the best place to start his search would be. Turning his eyes to the woods on the edge of the dorm’s bounds, a thought entered his mind.

“You know, I wonder…” he whispered quietly to himself, taking a few cautious steps towards the edge of the woods. Taking in all of his surroundings Jaden proceeded into the woods alone, keeping his eyes open for any sign of Chazz just in case for some reason he was wandering around out there. After all, he heard that when he himself was gone from the island after he left when he wasn’t able to see his cards anymore and then running into the Neo Spacians, Syrus had been wandering around the woods and really the entire island depriving himself of sleep and food trying to look for him. Of course, the circumstances clearly weren't the same in this situation, but he fully realized the possibility of Chazz just randomly wandering around lost. Not that he believed it was true, but he had to check. Listening intently as the sounds of nature around him yielded no sign of Chazz or really anyone else, Jaden wandered for another few minutes before happening upon a clearing. Cautiously scanning the open area, his heart stopped as his eyes locked on a fixed point on the ground.

“Oh shit..” Jaden gasped, rushing into the clearing, kneeling down beside Chazz’s lone duel disk lying haphazardly on the ground. Examining the device Jaden noticed that it looked like it had been tossed or even thrown to its current position, and Chazz’s deck was also missing. Looking around quickly as his mind raced with terrible possibilities of what had happened, Jaden cupped his hands around his mouth to amplify his volume as he called out into the wilderness. 

“CHAZZ!! YOU OUT THERE, BUDDY!? WHERE ARE YOU???”

Increasingly worried about their friend in the silence that followed his call Jaden began to quietly panic. What if something had really happened to him? What would they tell Sheppard??

“Jaden!!”

Snapping his head up from its position in his right hand Jaden shot his head around in every direction to try and pinpoint the location of the familiar high pitched voice, as he turned back around to the right his vision was suddenly shrouded in a yellow hue as the spirit of Ojama Yellow had attached himself to Jaden’s face as he cried a waterfall of tears. Taken aback by the sudden assault Jaden cried out in surprise and jerked his body away from the imp before it registered in his mind that he was face to face with just a harmless spirit, and wasn't being attacked.

“Ojama Yellow…?” The brunette questioned, cocking his head slightly to the right as he questioned the little emotional spirit. “What are you doing out here by yourself? Where's Chazz…?”

“Oh Jaden!!” The imp cried, hugging the boy again, only this time not on his face. “It was terrible!! They took him!”

“W-What!?” Jaden gasped, his eyes widening at the spirit’s statement. “W-What do you mean? Who?? Who took Chazz??” the brunette’s mind was racing a million miles a minute by that point, just thinking about what he would tell everyone -hell-  _ how  _ he would tell everyone, he could hardly listen as Ojama Yellow recounted the events of the night before through his overly dramatic streams of tears, sobbing over his abducted master. But through the entire recount, one thing struck Jaden harder than anything else the spirit had relayed to him through his tears.

“The lady said the they were hired by the boss’s brothers to kidnap him…”

“WHAT!?” Jaden practically screamed, his eyes widening as the information reached his ears. Why would his brothers hire people to kidnap him? And why now of all times when they had  _ just  _ started making progress with him and actually learned about his mental health problems, which of course stemmed from his brothers, who were at the root of now two problems surrounding Chazz. Gasping again Jaden quickly scrambled around on the ground, finding the actual Ojama Yellow card that had in fact been left behind apparently just like Chazz had planned and hoped. Taking a quick look at the card he determined there was no damage done to it before shoving it in his pocket before scurrying over to Chazz’s duel disk and snatching it up from the grassy ground.

“Come on, follow me!” Jaden commanded before tearing off back towards the academy, closely tailed by the little duel spirit, who was now joined by Jaden’s own concerned Winged Kuriboh. 

“W-Where are we going??” Yellow inquired as the three tore their way quickly out of the woods and in the direction of the looming academy. All of their hearts were racing and the world felt like it was spinning around them. Winged Kuriboh’s expression became concerned and his normally cheerful tone changed to one more worried and concerned as he looked on at his own young master.

“To tell Chancellor Sheppard what happened to Chazz!” Jaden answered, panting as he ran as hard and fast as he could. “We’ll grab Sy and have him bring everybody else there, we have to hurry!”

Quickly running as fast as he could, Jaden scanned every square inch for his nearest and dearest friend. Skidding to a stop just outside the Ra Yellow dorm as a mop of light blue hair entered his line of sight.

“Sy!” Jaden called, slapping his hand sans Chazz’s duel disk down on the boy’s shoulder again, crouching down so that he was more level with Syrus’ eye level, panting as he caught his breath for a few moments his head dropped downwards towards the ground for a moment before he looked back up into the adorable gray eyes of his now very concerned best friend, “I need you to gather everybody in Sheppard’s office, got it??”

“But Jaden, I just-" Sy inquired, turning slightly back to the academy, pointing back in that direction as well before Jaden quickly cut him off, shaking him slightly, effectively turning Syrus around back to face him.

“-I know, I know! Sorry Sy, but this is important! I know what happened to Chazz, now please hurry!” Jaden politely commanded before running off again, leaving the concerned bluenette behind even more concerned and confused than he already had been. Feeling bad for tasking so much to his dearest companion Jaden facepalmed himself quickly as he reached the academy. Racing down the halls he bypassed dozens of confused students who turned and stared as he ran. Unaware of what he was doing or what was going on at all. Continuing in his quest to reach Sheppard’s office Jaden’s eyes widened as Dr. Crowler exited his own office, right into Jaden’s flight path. Having noticed too late and having no time to change directions, Jaden’s small teenage body collided with the much larger professor, knocking the adult aside, sending him into the wall effectively causing him to stumble down to the floor, shrouded in a cloud of now scattered papers. No doubt assignments he still needed to grade. Only having slightly lost his balance from his collision with Dr. Crowler’s profile, Jaden steadied himself quickly before starting up again.

“Jaden Yuki!” Crowler shouted as he regained his own balance, glaring angrily at the young student. “What on earth are you doing!?”

“Sorry, Crowler! But I'm really in a hurry!” Jaden called back to his furious teacher, really feeling bad about what just happened, but he had bigger problems to worry about at the moment with Chazz having been kidnapped last night and all. Something that at the moment, only he knew. Taking another two minutes of running Jaden reached Chancellor Sheppard’s office, not even stopping to catch his breath first he practically ripped the door open and took a giant stride inside.

“Chancellor Sheppard!!” Jaden shouted, finally taking a second to catch his breath as he panted and wheezed just inside the office doorway.

“Jaden?” Sheppard questioned, his calm, melodious voice taken over by an air of surprise at the boy’s completely unexpected invasion. “What's going on? You seem out of sorts.”

“Sheppard, it's Chazz!” Jaden declared, his eyes wide with worry as he recounted to himself what Ojama Yellow had told him. “He was kidnapped last night! Apparently his brothers hired some thugs to take him from the island!”

“Oh my…!” Sheppard exclaimed, leaning back in his chair as he placed his thumb and pointer finger in a thinking manner under his chin, letting his eyes close lightly as he processed what Jaden had told him. “That certainly is cause for concern…” looking back up at the worried brunette, he just had to ask. “And how do you know that this happened, Jaden? Certainly you came by this information somehow.”

“He told me.” Jaden answered plainly, taking the Ojama Yellow card from his pocket and brandishing it before the esteemed Chancellor, his eyes changing from worried to serious in a matter of seconds. To any normal person that would've been the most daft thing anyone could ever say. But Sheppard wasn't any ordinary man. He was much wiser in the ways of duel monsters and spirits and pretty much everything having to do with them than most thought he was. He understood fully well both Jaden and Chazz’s ability to communicate with the spirits of duel monsters. So he understood the credibility of Jaden’s source, as the Ojama was one of Chazz’s own creatures. “Ojama Yellow told me everything that happened.”

“I see..” Sheppard sighed, thinking to himself about what they ought to do to help the stolen youth. A moment of silence passed between the two men as Sheppard lost himself in his thoughts. It wasn't everyday a student was kidnapped from the island... kidnapped  _ on  _ the island maybe. But even those events seemed to be few and far between, and they didn't exactly have any sort of protocol for something like this. As the two stood a moment longer, the silence suddenly ended.

“Jaden Yuki what on earth is going on here!?” Crowler’s voice cut through the silence as he joined the two in the office, his eyes narrowed in anger over the former incident. “You can’t just go running around the halls! Have you ever attended a school before!? Plus, you could have damaged my person!”

“Calm down, Crowler.” Sheppard calmly commanded, shaking his head at the self involved professor. “We have bigger problems right now.”

“What's going on, Jaden?”

The three men turned towards the feminine voice belonging to Alexis as she and the rest of the group entered the office, all wearing quizzical expressions on their faces. It certainly hadn't taken them long to show up, but then again the group did have their own uncanny ability to show up just in the nick of time. Jaden sighed quietly to himself, not exactly ready to tell everyone about the fate that had befallen their dear friend, but its not like he had much choice in the matter.

“Well miss Rhodes,” Sheppard began, taking the liberty of explaining himself. “from what Jaden just told me...it seems that Chazz was abducted from the island last night.”

There was an obviously audible gasp from the others who were previously unaware of Chazz’s kidnapping. And the multitude of wide eyes staring back at Jaden and the Chancellor also served as a denotation of the shock and disbelief now encircling the decently sized group. 

“You mean he was kidnapped??” Syrus asked through his own shocked gasp, his already large eyes growing larger as he processed the information they had all just recieved.

“Unfortunately…” Jaden sighed, nodding his head in response to the small bluenette. “Looks like it, Sy.”

“Of all the people to get kidnapped…” Bastion said quietly, thinking to himself as he tried to come up with a reason that could possibly make sense. “You certainly wouldn't expect it to be Chazz.”

“Yeah,” Hassleberry nodded in agreement, turning his eye to the smallest among them as a cheeky grin of his own crawled across his young face, “with all the trouble he gets into you’d think it was Syrus.” Laughing slightly to himself Hassleberry patted his tiny friend on the back, earning a few quiet snickers from a few of the others, and an adorably childish pouty face from the bluenette, who was quite unamused at his friend's jab at his unlucky streak of being used to exploit his friends throughout his time at the academy. 

“Guys, this really isn't the time.” Atticus scolded, shaking his head in disapproval of the lighthearted antics and teasing. True it was commonplace for the students to make light of serious and even dangerous situations, but there was something about the current problem that struck a chord with Atticus enough to not approve. 

“I agree.” Crowler nodded, the anger in his eyes now directed at the situation at hand, and his frustration with the knowledge that someone had absconded with one of his dear students. “We must find who did this immediately! No one captures my students and gets away with it!”

“Oh don't you worry, Crowler.” Sheppard declared, standing up from his desk chair, walking around the desk and taking a place standing before the group of students and the titular doctor with a serious look in his eyes. “We already know who did this.”

“Who?” Alexis asked, her curiosity beginning to outweigh her concern in that moment. “Who did this to him…?”

“His brothers.” Jaden answered plainly and flatly, lowering his head to the discarded duel disk he held in his hand. Atticus’s heart stopped when he heard the answer. He knew more about Chazz’s problems and past with his brothers than anyone else did. The issue was far worse than they had ever thought it was, but Atticus couldn't bring himself to tell them before that he had been actually physically abused over the years, and about the multitude of scars he had to bare as a constant reminder of the pain that he had been forced to endure. But he couldn't figure why his brothers would have kidnapped him...perhaps they learned that Chazz had told him about what they did to him and took him away to keep him quiet? But that idea seemed a little far fetched considering apparently they had all but disowned him the last time they met, and didn't want hardly anything to do with him anymore. 

“You serious, Sarge?” Hassleberry asked, taken aback by the news. True he hadn't been around when Chazz last saw his brothers, but from what he learned from Jaden and Atticus about his condition and the cause, it was a concerning turn of events for him as well as the others. 

“I wish I wasn't, but I am.” Jaden sighed, holding the Ojama Yellow card tightly in his hand he looked back up at his friends, holding the card out to them as he continued on, “He told me everything.”

“What do you propose we do then, Jaden?” Bastion inquired, raising a thick, dignified eyebrow at the brunette in question.

“Isn't it obvious, Bastion?” Alexis intercepted, quickly turning her gaze to the resident group genius, a look of determination overpowering her face. “We have to rescue him! His brothers are terrible, horrible people. Who knows what they want him for or what they might do to him! Besides, he’s our friend!”

“But we don't even know where to start looking…” Syrus sighed, sadly glancing around at the others surrounding and towering over him with his small stature. “It's not like they left any clues about where they took him or anything. We just know they took him, right Jay?”

“That's true…” Jaden sighed as well, nodding in agreement with Syrus’s observation about the situation at hand. Sure they knew who took him, but in order to really do anything about it themselves, what they really needed wasn't the who, but the  _ where _ . Even if they didn't know  _ who  _ took him, if they knew  _ where  _ he was they could still do something about it. But without the where, the search could prove difficult.

“Well I for one agree with miss Rhodes.” Crowler stated, taking a step forwards towards the Chancellor, his face and stance stalwart and determined as well. Despite what most people would say about the man, Dr. Crowler cared very deeply for his students. And should anyone threaten their safety, he would do all in his power to intercept them. And Chazz’s brothers would be no different in that aspect. “We must locate and rescue Chazz immediately. I will not allow any harm to befall my students, and this criminal act by the Princeton family simply can not go unpunished!”

“I agree.” Sheppard nodded at the professor, turning his back to them for a moment while he considered what to do. “Chazz must be rescued as soon as possible.” taking another moment of silence, Sheppard turned back to the students, his face more serious than it had been in a very long time. “I will grant the six of you special permission to leave the island and search for Chazz. Needless to say he's long gone from here by now.”

“Really?” Jaden asked, honestly surprised that Sheppard would allow them to do something so potentially dangerous. But of course, he  _ did  _ commission them to guard the seven Spirit Keys and face off against the Shadow Riders in only their first year, so he figured he shouldn't exactly be  _ too  _ surprised by this course of events.

“Yes, Jaden.” Sheppard confirmed, turning his gaze to their beloved professor, “And of course, Dr. Crowler will be accompanying you. Can't have my students going on a mission like this without adult supervision now can I? And the good doctor appears to be more than willing to assist in the search and rescue.”

“Of course, Chancellor.” Crowler nodded, his serious eyes never wavering for a single moment. “I'll be sure to see to it that we bring Chazz back as soon as possible.”

“You're sure we can do this, Sarge?” Hassleberry asked, tilting his head slightly as he looked on to Jaden for an answer. Of course he figured he already knew what he was going to say, but this was a very delicate situation to be in, and they needed all the reassurance they could get.

“It doesn't matter if we  _ can  _ or not.” Jaden answered, glancing down at Chazz’s discarded belongings in his hands his anger rose and his blood began to boil. He hated it when anyone messed with any of his friends, but from what he knew about it, the elder Princeton's were already crossing at least ten lines too many. And who knows how many more they would cross before the friends could find and rescue Chazz. “We have no choice. We  _ have  _ to do this. We  _ have  _ to rescue him.”

“That's right.” Atticus added swiftly, snapping himself out of his thoughts to rejoin the conversation. “As his friends we owe it to Chazz to even  _ try _ to help him. We're the only ones he has in his life that aren't out to hurt him or use him. It's our duty to protect him and each other, and rescuing him is what we have to do now!”

“Well said, Atticus.” Bastion validated, nodding in approval of the elder student’s statement. “We should leave immediately. We don't know what Chazz could be being put through right now, and with his pre existing mental health issues, I'm afraid the potential trauma of this event could grow worse with prolonged exposure to his brothers now. And of course a few of us have seen how badly the traumas of his past have affected him already…”

Jaden and Atticus nodded at that statement. The memories of their encounters with Chazz that day returning to their minds. Atticus’s eyes fell downcast on the floor as he thought about all he had learned that day, about the depression, the panic attacks…the abuse and his scars...things he hadn't told the rest of them. But now wasn't the time to bring it up with all of the tension and already high running emotions surrounding the group. But one thing was certain between all of them. They would find Chazz and deliver him from his brothers’ grip, and the elder Princeton's would pay for what they've done to the youngest. They would pay oh so dearly for the pain they had mercilessly inflicted on the poor child. And they would stop at nothing to make it happen so.


	6. Chapter 6

** 6 **

“Let me go you bastards!!” Chazz shouted, pulling against the leather buckles clasped around his wrists as he found himself strapped onto a chair. Everything was white, or some type of light pastel color around Chazz as he sat in the middle of what could either be described as a lab or a hospital room and still be an accurate description. It looked like it could be either in all honesty, and it smelled heavily of drugs and cleaning supplies. There were counters and cabinets all along the wall, and what honestly looked like an operating table in the middle of the room. Normally a doctors office or whatnot would have a kind of bed inside, but this place was outfitted with what looked like a kind of tile slab on a platform or something of the sort. It felt like days had passed since he had been brought to this place. He had been taken from the kidnappers by his brothers after the money had been exchanged, and the rest really was a big blur. Chazz wasn't sure where he was exactly, even though they had untied his ankles so he could walk, Jagger had kept his hand clasped over the boy’s eyes and his other arm around his chest, holding him so he couldn't try and get away. So Chazz had very little knowledge of his surroundings on the way to where he found himself now. But somewhere down the line after being paraded through probably countless hallways, he had been shoved into the room he was currently residing in. 

\---

_ Falling to the ground Chazz was taken up by men in white, who heaved him up from the ground and held him against the wall while they removed the bonds holding fast around his chest, wrists, and forearms before removing the gag from his mouth, earning a small symphony of coughs and wheezes from the boy and his incredibly dry mouth. But with his arms freed Chazz tried to fight against the what he assumed were doctors or scientists of some sort, flailing his arms out as he tried to get a good punch or hit of some kind on the men holding him, but to no avail.  _

_         “L-Let me go!” He shouted, his voice was hoarse and scratchy, even more so than it sounded on any regular day. It hurt his throat to shout, but if he tried to speak normally his voice would be too quiet and weak. “W-What the hell’s g-going on!?” _

_        “Stop talking!” One of the doctors holding him back commanded, grabbing his flailing arm and held it tightly against his back as Chazz continued to struggle against the unfamiliar adults. “You could damage yourself! _

_ “L-Like you people a-aren’t doing that y-yourselves..!” Chazz retorted, doing his best to push them off of him, but the force of the adults holding him against the wall was too great for the young boy. His heart raced as he struggled, memories of his brothers resurfacing in the panic that was slowly creeping into his heart as flashes of the beatings he had sustained in positions just like this. Held down and helpless as he was heartlessly beaten by one brother or another. And on rare occasion both. _

_ “Hurry up!” The doctor to the right commanded who Chazz figured to be an aid of some kind behind them as the boy began the beginnings of a small panic attack, his breath hastening as he began to struggle harder against the oppressive forces restricting him from breaking free, “Subdue him!” _

_ After the aid quickly scrambled around behind them for a moment Chazz felt another hand on his body, already losing his senses it took him a quick second to register the aid had clamped a rag over his mouth and nose, chloroform no doubt he figured as his movement slowed, his eyesight fading away into black again, like it had before. Feeling his body go limp in the grasp of the doctors, that was the last thing he could remember up until that point. _

\---

“Dammit…” Chazz whispered to himself as he gave up his struggling. Looking around the room again he recognized it as the same room he was in before. His memory was still fuzzy but he did his best to collect himself and all he could recall. At some point during what was probably a period of a few hours in all honesty, he had been tightly strapped into the chair beside a table of monitors and other pieces of equipment, and his clothes had been removed and replaced very light blue tinted hospital gown of sorts. Looking around quickly Chazz located his coat hanging on a hook on the wall while his clothes were folded and set neatly on an empty chair beside the coat hooks, his shoes also placed neatly on top of his clothes. 

_ “What the hell is going on here…?”  _ Chazz thought, looking back down at his wrists he tried struggling again, well aware that it would do little good. But there wasn't much else he could do at that point. Shivering for a second, he realized that the room around him was decently chilly without the bulk of his warm clothes on.  _ “What do my brothers want from me…? Why is this happening?”   _ whipping his head towards the door Chazz watched as the doctors from before entered the room, accompanied by Slade, who in this moment was scarier to Chazz than the devil himself. Unable to back away from the obvious threat Chazz turned his head away, avoiding eye contact with the eldest Princeton as much as possible. 

“He’s awake, then.” one of the doctors observed, taking long strides towards the teenage prisoner. “Good, this will make things go much quicker.”

“What do you want with me..?” Chazz inquired, continuing to keep his gaze turned away from his eldest brother. The last thing he wanted was to see either of the two, but especially not Slade. He was the worst of them, the amount of abuses he put Chazz through over his short years were somewhat of an astronomical amount.

“What do you think we want, Chazz?” Slade scolded, making his way towards the boy before reaching over and taking Chazz’s face into his rough, brutish grip. Squeezing slightly to maintain his hold Slade forced Chazz’s gaze in his direction, staring him square in the eyes with a dark glare. “For you to hold up your end of the deal. And help us take over this world!” Slade’s eyes darkened as Chazz’s own black gems widened in fear as well as shock that they still hadn't let their ridiculous plan to take over the world go by now. “Don't think we haven't learned about your little  _ ability _ , Chazz. We know you can communicate with duel monsters!”

“H-How do you know abou-"

“-Did you really think we wouldn't find out!?” Slade interrupted, his voice raising along with his temper with the younger boy, “You could have used it to win! And keep on winning! You could have become the greatest, like we planned! But you didn't. You  _ disobeyed  _ us, and worst of all you  _ betrayed  _ us! But now, you're going to help us whether you like it or not!”

“What are you  _ talking about!?”  _ Chazz shouted back, genuinely confused as well as afraid. “You don't seriously think it works that way do you??” Chazz was baffled at what his brother was implying about his ability. True he really didn't understand it himself, but what he did know was that he couldn't use it to tip the scales of a duel the way Slade seemingly believed he could. 

“Be quiet!” Slade shouted, taking his hand away from Chazz’s face before quickly hitting him. The sound of the smack echoed in the small room as Chazz’s head was whipped to the side from the force of the blow. “Get to work already!” he commanded the doctors and scientists surrounding them, his anger rising again as they quickly hurried to begin their work. Snarling quietly to himself Slade turned to the scientist in charge of the group, “Do whatever you have to do,  _ break _ him if you have to. But I want every single detail on that power. I want to know what is, where it comes from,  _ everything.  _ Do you understand? And when you're done with him I want Chazz submitted. I want him compliant. Do you hear me!?”

“Yes, sir.” The scientist nodded, turning his gaze to their young subject. “It will be done.”

“You're insane…” Chazz muttered under his breath, keeping his head down as he overheard his brother’s conversation. Feeling a wave of relief as he heard his brother exit the room, he still worried about his current situation. He already could have guessed they had something bad planned for him just from the whole being kidnapped thing, but now it was confirmed. They weren't just prepared to abuse him again, but to go as far as torturing him if they had to. But Chazz already knew that he wouldn't make it easy for them to break him, mental illness aside. He wasn't about to submit to his deranged brothers without a fight.

“Now my boy,” the scientist said, pulling over another chair from the other side of the room and taking a seat in front of their captive, “my name is Dr. Drewer. Now if you'll cooperate with us, you won't get hurt. Too much.” 

Chazz shot a deathly glare at the good doctor for a moment, his anger interrupted by the touches of the other scientists as they proceeded to place little sticky pads with wires connecting them to a type of monitor device thing on his arms, and temples before one of them reached down and placed a few of the sticky pads onto his chest.

“What the hell is this!?” Chazz demanded to know, pulling against the leather bands buckled in place around his wrists again as one of the doctors assisted by placing another set of wired monitors on his temples beside the sticky pads, connecting him to a second monitor, obviously used for two different purposes. Walking over to Dr. Drewer one of the aids handed him an unmistakable object. “Hey! That's my deck!”

“Now now, settle down.” Drewer soothed, holding Chazz’s deck in his hands in deliberately plain sight for the teen to see. “We’re going to start with a  _ preliminary _ test, if you will. To see how legitimate this ability of yours is.” he explained, taking the deck and proceeded to shuffle it, despite the lack of need to do so. “Now we’ll start nice and simple. I'm going to show your cards to you, and you're going to tell me if a spirit appears. Is that clear?”

“Why the hell should I help you?” Chazz pouted, glaring at the doctor again with a small fire beginning to burn in his lovely black orbs. Frowning back at the boy, Drewer nodded at the aid by the monitors, nodding back the aid flipped a switch on the first monitor device. It didn't even take a second before Chazz felt the sticky pads heat up as volts of electricity were shot into his body, causing him to cry out from the pain it caused him. Lasting only a moment the volts ceased, his glare slightly weaker Chazz looked back to Drewer even so with anger in his face.

“Because if you don't cooperate, it will only get worse.” Drewer explained, his own expression darkening as his stark frown remained on his face. “Now, shall we begin?” drawing the first of many cards, he held it up for Chazz to see, a patronizingly quizzical expression replacing his dark frown. “Any spirits?”

“No.” Chazz answered plainly, his own expression evolving into frustration quite quickly. Nodding, Drewer placed the card aside on the counter adjacent him, and proceeded to draw the next card. The cycle seemed to go on forever, repeating the same thing over and over again in a monotonous manner. Until finally there was a shift in the trend. 

“Do you see anything?” Drewer asked, pulling out the next card. Taking a second to look at it Chazz's mood shifted. He was staring at the Ojama Black card. Knowing for a fact there was a spirit present his heart felt like it had slowed dramatically.

“Boss!” the impish creature exclaimed, appearing before his captured master. “You okay? What's goin’ on around here?!”

“No, nothing.” Chazz lied, quickly avoiding eye contact with the spirit. He thought that if he could make them think that he  _ couldn't  _ communicate with spirits, maybe they would let him go. But of course, it wasn't that simple. 

“He’s lying.” an aid informed, pointing to the second monitor screen showing his vitals and brain activity. “There was a spike in his brain activity just now. It looks like he had some kind of reaction to that card.”

“Lying are we?” Drewer asked, frowning starkly at the boy, unamused by his little plan. “There are consequences for things like that, you know.” shooting a glance at the second aid manning the first monitor, the switch was flipped again, sending a stronger shockwave through the teen. Crying out from the pain Chazz pulled against his restraints, struggling in his bonds in a vain attempt to liberate himself before any real damage could be done to him. But as he struggled, the scientists shocked him again, the electricity growing stronger with each pulse of energy and tearing out increasingly pained cries from Chazz as he recoiled from the blasts, his back arching as he leaned his head back screaming out as the shocks continued to assail his fragile body.

“It's quite simple really,” Drewer began to explain, his tone deceptively calm and melodious as he looked on at the boy’s suffering. “stop resisting us, and the pain won't be too severe.” looking back to the aid, he shook his head “That's enough for now.” 

Nodding back at him the aid let the machine stop, the electricity ceasing to electrocute the boy. When the shocks stopped Chazz felt his body go slightly limp as he slumped down in his seat, coughing and panting as he tried to recover from the onslaught of pain he had just endured. Unfortunately, he was used to such treatment by this point in his life. Not from electrocution of course, but the same idea of being hurt like this wasn't exactly a foreign concept to the poor boy.

“Boss!” Black gasped, fading away as Drewer buried the card in the pocket of his lab coat, taking a short moment to take note of the card he had held just then. 

“So, the Ojama cards is it?” Drewer observed, looking back to Chazz and watched him slump limply in his restraints, doing his best to push himself through the slowly fading pain and tingling sensation that riddled up and down his snow white body. “Well it seems we've made a little progress with you, boy. But of course, not enough to satisfy. You see there's no way to test if you can really do what your  _ dear _ brothers claim you can accurately enough for our taste without being able to do it ourselves. And of course as you may have guessed, we can't do that.” chuckling quietly to himself, Dr. Drewer shot a sinister glance back at the boy, enjoying his pained state maybe a little too much. “But I know you lied when I asked if you saw a spirit. And that proves something indeed.”

“J-Just let...me go..” Chazz panted, regaining his strength slowly but surely, looking back up at Drewer, the fire still burning in his tiring eyes. “This is pointless…”

“Oh on the contrary, my boy.” Drewer countered, standing up from his seat as he circled behind Chazz, placing his hands on the boy’s slender shoulders as he lowered his head closer to Chazz’s own he felt his prisoner tense and stiffen at his touch, uncomfortable with all of this. “You've proven enough that there's something special about you. If you couldn't see them, you wouldn't have lied to me.”

“Get off of me.” Chazz demanded, his tone low with an air of warning to his voice. If he could move he would have hit the man several times over by then. Heck, if he could move he would have  _ escaped  _ by then. Or at least he would have tried, but he doubted he would get very far on his own.

“I'm supposed to teach you to behave, boy.” Drewer countered, tightening his grip on the child, ignoring his words. “As well as discovering the source of your ability. By the time we're done with you, you will be a good, obedient little boy for those brothers of yours.” Chazz’s eyes widened as the man spoke, sparking memories of his younger days, when his brothers had all but beaten him into submission for years, forcing him to do anything and everything  _ they  _ wanted him to do. And when he broke free of them at Duel Academy, he had hoped he would be free of them forever. But it seemed that after all these years, they wanted to control him again. “Do you understand?”

_ “This is bad…”  _ Chazz thought to himself, his eyes remained wide with fear as his heart began to race and his breathing accelerated for the hundredth time it seemed like in such a short window of time. The panic came creeping back in slowly but it was still there. He couldn't do it again, living trapped by his brothers cycle of cruelty, completely helpless and at their mercy. The beatings, the pressure, the countless forms of abuses constantly inflicted upon him. That torturous life was no life at all, and it was a life Chazz felt like he wouldn't be able to survive a second time. And that was something he feared more than anything he had ever feared in his young life. 

“His heart rate is increasing dramatically, Doctor.” an aid informed, observing the stark change on the monitor showing his vital signs “I think if you keep pushing him like this he's going to succumb to a panic induced fit, sir.”

“I see.” Drewer said, taking his hands off of Chazz, who appeared to loosen up and relax slightly upon the loss of the man’s cold grasp. “Panic attacks then? He's weaker than I thought. Submitting him shouldn't be too difficult then, now should it?” 

“L-Leave me alone..” Chazz muttered, doing his best to control his emotions and slow his breathing. He knew it was too late to stop them from seeing his emotional weakness but he couldn't let them see just how bad it really was and could be. And he wasn't about to let the good doctor take away what little freedom he still retained even as a prisoner. But alone he understood how powerless he was. And Chazz hated himself for that. He would never admit it to anyone, but he wasn't strong enough to carry on alone any longer, even with medicine his inner pains and demons were an overwhelming and overpowering force that felt like they were beginning to consume him. If he hadn't had those encounters with Jaden and Atticus, he probably would have lost himself by now. And he equally appreciated and hated how his friends were protecting him all the time, even in the smallest ways. But it was treatment like that that made him feel as if he weren't strong enough or capable of protecting himself. But now more than ever, he wished they were there to protect him now.

“You, doctor.” Drewer called to the doctor overseeing the testing, “I want a report on the boy’s medical history. It may prove vital in the future of our testing.”

“Yes, sir.” the doctor nodded, hurrying out of the room to acquire and provide the requested information for the good doctor.

“Get him ready, I want to take a scan of his brain. Perhaps there's something there that will give us a source for this ability.” Drewer commanded, the aids quickly scrambling to Chazz’s side, removing the wires and sticky pads, one of them holding his arms tightly while the other undid the leather bands buckled around his wrists. Keeping his grip firm the first aid hoisted Chazz up out of the chair, spinning him around and holding his arms behind his back as they proceeded to escort him into another room adjoining the one they were already in, this one the same in size and color, all white and pale pastel blues and made entirely of tile, but this one filled with less science and more medical, with large machines one would find scattered about in a hospital. Taking him over to one of the large devices the aids forced him down onto his back, laying him out to prep him for the scan, they took the liberty of strapping him down again, locking another set of tough leather buckles around his wrists, keeping him down so they could prepare for the procedure. 

“Now be sure you hold still when it begins.” Drewer instructed, looking down at the captive teen. “Just cooperate and the rest of your time with us will go smoothly.”

“Go to hell.” Chazz snarled, masking his hurt and fear with anger. Something he knew all too well how to do. Glaring at the good doctor, Drewer’s own expression darkened in response. 

“I see.” He stated plainly “Well then, it seems submission will have to take priority for you.” turning away from the boy, he turned his attention to his two aids. “Hurry up!” he commanded, “I want this done swiftly and smoothly!”

Chazz closed his eyes slowly and lightly as he waited for it all to end. Listening to the aids scramble around getting ready to complete their assigned task, he tried to distract himself with thoughts of the academy, and the friends he had made there, no matter how unwillingly. Those thoughts gave him a slight bit of hope for his rescue. He knew Jaden wouldn't stop until they brought him back safe. That was just the type of person Jaden was. Always looking out for the people he cared about, and sometimes even people he didn't. And as much as Chazz hated to admit it, even to himself, right now Jaden was exactly what he needed. Well, Jaden and the rest of the group. As long as Ojama Yellow had been able to deliver the news of his kidnapping to Jaden, there was a chance that he and the others would be able to find him, and liberate him from his prison. Of course, that's what he thought when Atticus was able to help him before, that they would be able to save him from his own broken, shattered emotional state. But it felt like ever since they found out about his illness and started fussing over him, Chazz had only sunk deeper into his sadness. 

_ “You're just a burden to them now..”  _ he thought as he laid on the machine, unable to really do anything else having been placed there and strapped down again.  _ “I bet they're glad I'm gone. Jaden and the others can focus on their own lives and stop worrying about mine. I mean it's not like I mean much to anyone anyway...hell, I'm here aren't I? That's proof enough…”  _ the pain in Chazz’s heart was an ever present companion, serving only to make the poor boy suffer needlessly just as his life had always gone. Needless suffering and endless pain and torment. Sometimes he really did wonder how he was still alive after everything he had endured. The scars he bore were proof enough of the heartless, ruthless beatings and practical mutilations he had sustained throughout his years, and now he was in the clutches of that evil once more. If Chazz hadn't the strength to hold them back, tears would have begun to spill from his eyes. There was nothing he could do to save himself, to find his own deliverance from the abyss he had long ago fallen into. His only hope, lied with Jaden.


	7. Chapter 7

** 7 **

****

“What'll we do once we reach the mainland?” Hassleberry asked, looking to Jaden who found himself a job piloting the boat they found themselves riding to shore. There was a thick air of urgency around the group, everyone was silent and focused, and even Syrus had managed to look stoic as they all were deep in thought about the present situation.

“We find Chazz.” Jaden stated, keeping his eyes forward as he kept true to their current course, doing his best to get them back on land as fast as he possibly could.

“Well, yeah but like...how?” Hassleberry reiterated, specifying exactly what he meant. Though Jaden’s intentions had just been clearly laid out before them all, there wasn't exactly a plan there to back them up, which was the problem. “It's not like we know where to look? Sure his brothers had him kidnapped, but who knows where they actually had him taken. You know what I mean?”

“Yes, that is true.” Crowler agreed, nodding at the youngest student present. “Even though we know who we're looking for, we don't know  _ where  _ the poor boy is..”

“Well if we  _ did _ , this wouldn't be a problem.” Alexis countered, her arms crossed as she leaned back on the side of the boat she was sitting on, her long blonde hair blowing wildly in the evening breeze as Jaden sped them through the ocean as fast as he could while still traveling at a semi-safe speed.

“You say his brothers hired people to kidnap Chazz…” Bastion analyzed, tapping his chin lightly with his pointer finger as he thought about their present predicament. “Jaden, did Ojama Yellow mention anything about what they looked like? If we can find the people who kidnapped him, we may be able to get some information out of them concerning Chazz’s current location.”

“No, he didn't say, I don't think? If he did I wasn't really listening. But I can sure ask him.” Jaden replied as Winged Kuriboh appeared beside him with the little yellow imp, eager to help as well. “Hey Ojama, the people who took Chazz. What did they look like? How many were there?”

“I'm not sure, it was really dark..” Yellow answered, his face adorning a sad frown as his eyes drooped lower, upset by the thought of his missing master. “But I remember, there were three of them. One of them was a lady..she was really mean!”

“A lady?” Jaden inquired, raising an eyebrow in intrigue at the spirit’s answer. 

“Yeah, she was mean...I think she was the leader too, the other two did everything she said.” Yellow explained, doing his best to remember everything that happened well enough to give an accurate description of the kidnapper’s group dynamic for the teen, in all hopes that he and the others could rescue his beloved boss. 

“So there were three of them, and their leader was a woman?” Jaden asked, trying to be sure he had the facts straight, earning a nod from the spirit before he turned back to his friends sitting behind him, his gaze fixating on Bastion “Any ideas?”

“Let me see…” Bastion mumbled, calling on his vast array of knowledge for any ideas as to who the vile kidnappers who had stolen their dear friend could be.

“I think I may know who they are.” Crowler stated, crossing his arms while his eyes slowly closed, lowering his head in thought, in all honesty praying that he was right. If he was, they would know who to look for to maybe get help finding Chazz. And with all honesty, Crowler feared that if they didn’t find him soon, Chazz may just be beyond saving…

“You do?” Syrus questioned, turning a curious eye to their dear professor.

“Who could it be?” Atticus inquired, standing up from his seat adjacent Alexis, staring intently at the resident adult, also hoping for an answer that could lead them somewhere that would bring any sort of positive progress in the search for Chazz. 

“Well actually, we thought this group may have been responsible for  _ your  _ disappearance, Atticus.” Crowler explained, looking back up at the eldest present student. “Back when you and those other students vanished from the abandoned dorm Chancellor Sheppard had the teachers conduct an investigation, researching every underground criminal organization. He and many of the other teachers thought that you had been kidnapped as a means of damaging or perhaps even blackmailing the academy.” he continued, his eyes stern and focused, which in all honesty seemed weird to the students. “I looked into this group personally. They call themselves, Tantalus. A small mercenary band led by a young woman. They take on a multitude of different criminal acts, whatever they're hired to do. Their most requested crime,” Crowler’s facial expression changed as a stark frown appeared on his face as he scanned the group of his precious students, taking in the fact that for once even  _ Jaden _ was listening to him, “is kidnapping.”

“Professionals, then.” Hassleberry observed, crossing his arms as a heavy sigh escaped from his lips, leaning back in his seat he considered the possibility that Crowler was right, which was looking to be extremely likely at the moment. “What do you make of it, Sarge?”

“I think we oughta track down these ‘Tantalus’ people and find out if they really did take Chazz.” Jaden answered back, smiling to himself as the Domino City skyline appeared on the horizon. Of course he doubted this was where they would find Chazz locked away, but it was the closest port he could think of that he actually knew how to reach. “And I think I may have an idea that’s just crazy enough to work.”

“What do you mean, Jaden..?” Syrus asked, turning his confusion to his protector and best friend, hoping he had actually thought through whatever plan he had thought up in that oddly strange brain of his.

“Right, I mean a group like that can’t be easy to find, Jaden.” Alexis added, already questioning Jaden’s thought process “We’d probably spend so much time looking for them..that Chazz could run out of time…”

“That’s not going to happen.” Atticus asserted, clenching his fist as his eyes narrowed in anger at even the thought of the  _ possibility  _ that they could be too late to save the poor boy. “We can’t let that happen.”

“That's right. And we won't.” Jaden nodded, bringing them safely into port, docking the boat before turning back to his friends, a fire of determination burning in his beautiful brown eyes “Because we’re going to get  _ them  _ to come to  _ us. _ ”

“And how pray tell, are we going to do that?” Bastion questioned, raising an eyebrow at their leader, also questioning his plans. But of course, they were all about to get the answer they were searching for.

“Crowler said they take jobs they're hired to do right?” Jaden began, a cheeky grin crawling across his face for the millionth time in his life, “So, we’ll hire them. Of course it'll be a setup, so once they come to meet us, we find out if they took Chazz, and where his brothers have him locked away.”

“You really think that'll work?” Syrus asked, skeptical of pretty much everything all the time anyway, but certainly when a dear friend was on the line. Besides the plan did seem kinda shaky, especially if they weren't the ones responsible for kidnapping poor Chazz. They didn't have much room for wasting time, so if they were going to do this then they had to do it quickly and perfectly.

“Jaden.” Crowler said, getting up from his seat with a more than serious look on his face. “These people are dangerous criminals. I can't allow you to put yourself and the rest of your friends at risk like that!”

“But Crowler, this could be the only way to find Chazz in time.” Atticus protested, completely on board with the plan if it meant saving their friend. “We can't let his brothers keep him. They've done enough damage to him already!”

“Atticus…” Alexis sighed, worried as much about her brother as she was about Chazz..something about this whole situation was affecting Atticus greater than any of the rest of them, and to be honest it scared her. 

“But as your teacher and adult supervision I simply cannot allow you to do this!” Crowler countered, a tiny smile found itself a place on his face. “So when we meet with them, allow me to handle the business.”

Jaden smiled back at the good doctor, proud to have such a wonderful man as their teacher and guardian. Nodding back at the professor Jaden exited the boat, taking in a breath of fresh air as the others followed, happily returning to solid ground.

“Alright then,” Jaden said, turning to the others with a determined smile. “Let's get to work.”

_____________________________

 

“What's the good word, Dr. Drewer?” Slade asked, leaning back in his office chair as he spoke to the man over the phone, waiting to hear news about the situation with Chazz. And how close they were to breaking him.

_ “He sure is a fighter.” _ Drewer began, a small chuckle coming through under his breath as he spoke to his cruel boss.  _ “He’s being more difficult than we anticipated. But we can confirm that he does have the ability you claim he does. Though he tried to deceive us. Of course,” _ he chuckled darkly,  _ “I punished him thusly.” _

“Good.” Slade nodded, “I want him submitted to us no matter what it takes. I want his power on our side.”

_ “Well well, someone sure hasn't lost his edge.” _ Drewer observed, an audible smirk appearing on his face, recounting the Princeton brothers’ younger days, the cruelty that took place every day. He himself had witnessed plenty of beatings dealt to the youngest brother, even been tasked with taking him to their private doctors so that no one would know Chazz had been harmed by his own family. The elders were ruthless, horrible creatures and Drewer had the nerve to actually hold a respect for them.  _ “Don't you worry, we have him ready to be studied now. But, I do have to mention, I've looked over his medical history and his records. It seems that shortly before he went to Duel Academy, he was diagnosed with clinical depression, and chronic panic disorder in response to all those years of oppression and abuse at the hands of the both of you.” _

“What's your point.” Slade demanded, his tone low and dark as his eyes narrowed with impatience. 

_ “My  _ point _ , is that he has a myriad of medications in his system.” _ Drewer explained, a slight bit of irritation entering the man.  _ “And what you want us to do with him could potentially make things difficult. The effects could be more severe than you realize.” _

“I don't care.” Slade stated, his voice devoid of emotion. “Do whatever it takes to harness that power of his. Even if it kills him, do it if you have to, I don't care!”

_ “Very well, sir.” _ Drewer nodded, taking a moment to think about what he had learned about the youngest Princeton so far.  _ “But from what little I do understand, it may not be possible to control the boy’s powers.” _

“Even if you can't. We can still control  _ him. _ " Slade retorted, growing weary of the conversation at hand. All he cared about was their goal being reached, by any means necessary. Besides, they had a plan to cover their tracks on the off chance that Chazz was killed, so he didn't care at all what the doctor did with the boy. “Now get back to work!”

“Yes, sir.” Drewer nodded, hanging up the phone before returning to his work. Walking away from the receiver, he returned to the young captive now strapped down to the table in the middle of the room they had been keeping him locked in since his brothers delivered him. Chazz was laid out on the table, this time with iron shackles locked in place around his wrists and ankles. Looking down at the hardly conscious boy, he looked so small and frail knowing that he had been beaten and abused all of his life, paired with his naturally deathly pale skin. If he were any regular man, Drewer would have been sickened by what Chazz’s brothers had done to him, and by what he was currently  _ doing  _ to the poor lad. But Drewer was no ordinary man. He actually admired the elder Princeton’s, and he enjoyed inflicting pain upon others. Especially the weak and the small. And this boy was no different in his cold, cruel eyes.

“Well my boy,” Drewer said, placing a warm hand on the boy’s cold face, taking his head in his hands Drewer turned him from side to side, examining his barely open eyes. After they had taken the scans of his brain, Drewer had tried to get Chazz to submit again, strapping him back into the electrocution device. He was determined to break the boy one way or another. But Chazz would not give up the fight.

\---

_ “Tell me everything you know about your ability to communicate with duel monsters!” Drewer demanded, his narrowed eyes meeting Chazz’s own as the boy struggled against his bonds, pulling and yanking at the leather bands around his wrists, only serving to make the leather dig into his skin, mutilating the soft white skin. Staining his right wrist with bits of rosy red blood as the latest tug caused the leather to break through the rubbed raw skin. _

_ “N-Never!” Chazz shouted through a sharp, pained inhale as the skin on his wrist was broken through. The sensation of tearing skin was a feeling he was all too used to, but it never ceased to make him scream even if only a little. “I'll never tell you anything!” angered by the boy’s defiance Dr. Drewer flipped the switch, shooting an onslaught of strong volts through Chazz’s body, tearing painful screams from his throat. Chazz’s screams filled the entire space, and reverberated off of the walls and echoed until they sounded even louder. Writhing and contorting his body in any way he could as he screamed and cried, Chazz felt his body losing strength. All of the years of abuse had weakened his body, he already couldn't take much more. Chazz’s body had been rendered weak and fragile over the long years, and yet the pain would not stop. _

_ “If you don't cooperate then the pain will only grow!” Drewer explained, keeping the switch held down, electrocuting the boy only more as he listened his screams. “So if you want to keep living you'll do as I say!” _

_ “N-No!” Chazz screamed through the pain, his heart felt like it would burst out of his chest, beating so hard and fast the way it was, his breathing was thick and it hitched in his throat, delivering unto him an array of deep and painful coughs. He did all he could to fight the pain, but Chazz could feel his body giving out, unable to handle as much pain as he was unfortunately used to. It hurt so much, but he couldn't give in to his brothers. If he did, he knew he would never be able to break free again.  _

_ “Sir, he can't take much more of this!” One of Drewer’s aids called, hurrying over to stop her boss from killing the poor boy. Letting out a frustrated sigh, Drewer flipped the switch again, stopping the voltage from assailing the poor boy. Chazz slumped limply in his seat, coughing wildly as he tried to recover from his extended electrocution. His entire body burned and tingled, it hurt so badly he could hardly keep his eyes open. He heard the voice of the doctor swirling around him, but he couldn't make out what he was saying. Chazz’s breath was shallow and uneven, weakened greatly by the assault upon his personage, but he felt the gravity around him change and he knew he was being lifted. After a few moments he felt the cold of metal on his exposed skin as he was laid down on the table not far from the chair he was sitting in moments before. He could hear the clicking of metal bonds being locked in place around his wrists and ankles, there really was no escaping now. _

_ \--- _

“It looks like we'll be doing this by force. Since you won't behave for me.” 

_ “Help me...please..”  _ Chazz thought, unable to pull the words from his throat. He was still weak from the extended electrocution, and his voice just didn't seem to work at that time. His mind wandered to his friends. Normally he would never admit it, but he missed them...he  _ needed  _ them even. He knew he couldn't survive much longer being treated this way if this was how he was going to be punished for fighting back. Being beaten was one thing, but electrocuted was a different story. Chazz knew he needed their help this time, he needed them to rescue him. Heck, he would even accept  _ Jaden’s _ help at this point, he knew there really was no other way to get out of this jam.  _ “I..I-I can't do this...please..help me..”  _

“Now, hold still and don't resist.” Drewer instructed, taking a small bottle of rubbing alcohol from one of the aids, and cleansing the inner side of his left elbow, since he had taken the liberty of having his left arm locked in place with his inner arm facing upwards for just such an occasion. The doctor who was present with them in the room came over with an IV and gently stuck it into the boy’s vein, wrapping a bandage over it to keep the IV in place. 

_ “What are you...d-doing to me…?”  _ Chazz thought, unable to do anything but wait for whatever they were doing with him to be over. But every fiber of his being screamed at him to fight back in that moment. But there was nothing he could do even if he wanted to..not without help, which he had none of then.

“Easy, my boy.” Drewer soothed, the fakest sincerity there ever could be in his voice despite the ever present frown plastered to his face as Chazz tried to wiggle and struggled as best he could with as little strength as he had left in him, he let out small moans and grunts as he tried his best to struggle, but the strength simply wasn't there. Placing his hands down on Chazz’s chest Drewer held him down while the doctor hooked oxygen tubes over his ears and placed them into his nose. “We’re going to run a few tests on you. And if you don't behave,” Drewer pulled out a small device from his pocket. Switching it on, Chazz could see the voltage belonging to a taser through his slowly closing eyes as the beeping of a heart monitor sounded in his ears, realizing he had been hooked up to even more machinery against his will. “I will not hesitate to use this.”

_ “Atticus…”  _ Chazz pleaded, feeling the cold darkness of his own inner prison-like abyss begin to swallow him again as the fear and hopelessness began to sink in, his heart began to pound and race again as his breathing seemed to all but disappear through it's haste. He knew that he was going to have a panic attack at this rate, fearing even the thought of what the doctor had planned for him.  _ “Jaden…”   _ the world around Chazz was spinning so fast, he felt so dizzy and disoriented and he wasn't even moving. The area around the IV began to sting, and even hurt the boy earning a couple grimaces as his eyes screwed shut for a few moments, breathing heavily as well as quickly and unevenly Chazz felt more unwell than he'd ever felt before in his life.  _ “Everyone...please...h-help me…” _

“His body isn't taking too well to the drugs, Doctor.” The actual medical doctor informed, observing Chazz in his current uncomfortable and squirmy state of being. 

“Of course not.” Drewer replied, also taking note of the boy’s condition “His body is already weak, and his system is already filled with other drugs from his medications. The different drugs are interfering with one another, which is causing the boy some...mild discomfort. But if his brothers want to control him, then this must be done. One cannot effectively brainwash a child without first rendering their mind and body useless on their own volition. Besides,” the doctor smiled darkly as he stared at the poor boy in his demented clutches. “I've been charged with breaking the boy. And that is exactly what I aim to do.”

_______________________________

 

“You really think this plan a’yours is gonna work, Sarge?” Hassleberry asked, turning his attention to their pretty much fearless leader. It had been hours since they arrived in Domino City, and there really wasn't much for them to do. Once they arrived and found a place to get themselves set up, Crowler had gone to arrange the fake job for the Tantalus group, the plan was to set up a fake kidnapping request and have them meet Crowler back at the docks. And once the group arrived to receive their orders, that would be the time for Jaden and the others to surround them and interrogate them for any information they may have about what they did with Chazz and where they could find him now. But of course, some of them did have doubts about the whole thing.

“Doesn't matter if I think so or not.” Jaden shrugged, turning to his friend with a serious look in his eyes. “It has to. This could be our only chance to find out where Chazz was taken before we run out of time.”

“But Jaden...what if something goes wrong, and something bad happens…?” Syrus asked, a small tone of fear coming through his adorably high pitched voice. His big gray eyes were worried and apprehensive as he looked upon his best friend, hoping for a good answer.

“Don't you worry, Sy.” Jaden said, placing a hand on the small boy’s shoulder as a small smile appeared on his cheeky little face. “I'll protect you, no matter what happens. You know I'd never let anything happen to you. Any of you.”

“Thanks, Jay..” Syrus nodded, a small sigh of relief coming through the end of his sentence as he remembered all the times Jaden had been there to rescue and protect him. But really, he hoped that this time he wouldn't need to be protected. After all, this wasn't about him, it was about Chazz.

“No problem, buddy.” Jaden said, smiling gently down at his best friend. Syrus meant so much to him, he was like a little brother to Jaden. Never in a million years would he ever let anything happen to the precious little bluenette, no matter what.

“Are you alright, Atticus..?” Alexis asked, taking a seat next to her big brother on the ground, a concerned look consuming her face. “You've been acting strange ever since we found out about Chazz. Is something wrong..?” 

“Of course something’s wrong.” Atticus answered, keeping his eyes forward as his fist clenched. In all truth, he was angry. Angry about what happened to Chazz, angry that he wasn't able to protect him like he had vowed to himself to do, and mostly, angry about everything he had learned about what Chazz’s brothers had done to him over the years. “Chazz is in danger. And there's nothing we can do about it yet! It just..I don't know..” He sighed, lowering his head into his hand for a moment, shaking his head at his sister as he finished. “It feels so wrong..”

“I know..” Alexis sighed, placing a comforting hand on her brother's shoulder. She knew her brother cared deeply for his friends, Atticus cared for everyone he'd ever known in his life, and it hurt him so much having such a close friend of his be hurt like this. And knowing what they did about his past, she understood how badly Atticus wanted to protect him, and how much he hated Chazz’s brothers, since he was an older brother himself. “But we're going to get Chazz back, Atty. It's going to be alright.”

Atticus looked up at her, surprised she called him by that name. She hadn't called him by that nickname since they were little kids. The sincerity in her voice warmed his heart, but it hurt at the same time. A small sigh escaped from his lips as he thought about their situation. Sure they had a plan, but what if it didn't work? What if these people  _ weren't  _ the ones who took Chazz? What would they do then..?

“I'll believe that when Chazz is safe and sound back at Duel Academy.” Atticus muttered under his breath as his anger began to surface, his eyes narrowed and his tone deepened, looking back away from his dear sister. Flashes of his encounter with Chazz appeared across his vision, the tears, the fear, the scars...just thinking about the pain his brothers had caused the poor boy made his blood boil more than anything ever had. He hated them for what they’d done. “And when his brothers pay for what they've done.”

“Atticus…” Alexis gasped quietly. She’d never seen him so angry before..not since he was possessed by the darkness and became Nightshroud. In all honestly, it scared her to see him like that.

“Everyone look sharp!” Bastion called to the group, pointing down the pier as they all turned their attention to him. “It looks like we've got visitors.”

“That was fast.” Jaden observed, poking his head around one of the warehouses they had placed themselves between to keep out of sight until Crowler gave them the signal to move in. Seeing the three dark figures making their way towards the professor in the moonlight that had just begun lighting the pier.

“They're professionals, Jaden.” Bastion stated, keeping an eye on the three figures moving towards the waiting professor. “Of course they move quickly.” it had only a few hours since they contacted the group, they surely were living up to their reputation among the crime world.

“You sure they won't get suspicious when they see Dr. Crowler..? I mean, what if they find out what's going on and try to hurt him..?” Syrus asked worriedly, clutching Jaden’s arm as a slight bit of fear began to take hold of the small boy.

“That's why we're here, Private.” Hassleberry asserted, taking a moment to brandish his impressive muscles and a cheerful smile. “If things go as planned then we just keep them from leavin’. And if not, well then we're Dr. Crowler’s backup. The professor's gonna be fine.”

“They wouldn't dare hurt Dr. Crowler.” Jaden asserted, completely prepared to do whatever it took to protect his friends and dear teacher. One close friend had already been thrown into harm's way, and he wasn't about to let that happen again.

“Quiet now, Children!” Crowler commanded only loud enough for the students to hear, keeping his eyes forward to avoid provoking any more suspicion than his presence enough would cause. “They're here.”

The three figures approached the professor, indeed the two men walked slightly behind the woman in the group. Her eyes were glassy and cold as she looked upon the good doctor, recognizing his coat as the Duel Academy style of dress. The smaller man could be heard whispering quietly to the bigger man beside him, who in turn nodded slightly though he kept his eyes front. Crowler kept his face serious and stoic as his stance remained strong and stalwart as he stood, staring directly into the eyes of the woman he was positive kidnapped one of his precious students. And that was a crime he would never, and  _ could  _ never forgive. 

“Welcome, my dear.” Crowler said, offering a polite greeting despite the hatred burning in his heart. “And you as well, gentlemen. A pleasure to meet you.”

“Well, well.” The woman said, sizing up the professor as she placed a hand on her hip, shifting her weight to lean on her right leg. “What's a man like you doing out here with the likes of us?” her eyes kept their cold indifference trained on the professor, aware of where he was from, and most certainly why he was there. “I assume this was a setup.”

“You assumed right, my dear.” Crowler informed, a stark frown appearing through his only growing anger. “Now,” he glanced to the side where his students were waiting, discreetly nodding before turning his gaze back to the kidnappers as the students emerged from their hiding place, swiftly forming a circle around them and the professor, forming a barrier to keep them from escaping, while Crowler’s furious expression and tone only grew more so. “Where is Chazz Princeton.”


	8. Chapter 8

** 8 **

****

“Where is he?” The woman questioned, chuckling to herself as she beheld the vast array of students surrounding her and her men. “You went through all this trouble, just to ask me  _ that? _ ”

_ “So they  _ did  _ take him..”  _ Jaden thought, keeping a close eye on the kidnappers as he and the others stood resolute in a barrier to keep them from getting away, as well as keeping an eye on all of his friends. Just in case.

“I'll go through whatever trouble I have to to protect my students!” Crowler asserted, raising his voice as if he had been scolding a child. His eyes narrowed in anger and fury as he interrogated the criminals. “Now I'll ask you again. Where is Chazz Princeton!?”

“The brat?” the small man asked, a slight chuckle on the end of his breath as he scoffed out his words, as if he were mocking the professor's concern and anger. “Doesn't matter where he is. Those brothers of his won't be so willing to let you take him back.”

“They won't stop us! We'll save him no matter what!” Atticus blurted out, ignoring the one rule that Crowler had laid down before they got into their positions. That they were not to speak a single word to the kidnappers, and let him take care of everything. Crowler shot a disapproving glance at Atticus, shaking his head at the boy before looking back to the criminals before him.

“I'm prepared to do whatever I must to ensure the wellbeing of my students.” Crowler stated, sparking surprise in the group of students as the professor's fists clenched, and they saw a hot burning fire of rage burning in their dear teacher’s normally calm eyes. It was honestly scary to see Dr. Crowler so angry. “And if that means taking on the entire Princeton family well then so be it!”

“You're serious?” The woman asked, raising her eyebrow at the eccentric looking professor. Never in her life had she found herself faced with someone looking for a person she and the others in Tantalus had kidnapped. Most of the cases she was involved in had never been solved, or ended up with someone dead on the news. But this time she was faced with not just a man, but a teacher, so devoted to his students he was willing to go through all the trouble of tracking her and her men down even just to ask her where his student had been taken. It was an odd sensation to be certain. “Those brothers mean business you know. You're wasting your time trying to find that kid.”

“Yeah. Who knows what they wanted him for.” The smaller man added, glancing around at the students surrounding him, he shrugged his shoulders and let out a dark smile. “Kid’s probably dead by now.”

“Shut up!” Jaden shouted, his own anger beginning to boil alongside Crowler’s. If he hadn't the sense to obey his teacher he would have attacked the man right then and there. And he wouldn't be alone in the line of thinking, Jaden knew the others would be right there with him with that.

“That's enough, Jaden!” Crowler scolded, already frustrated enough  _ without _ his students disobeying his one rule to stay out of the conversation. He didn't want them provoking the kidnappers or doing anything that could potentially bring danger their way. “I told you to let me handle this!”

“You're telling me, that all this is for one spoiled brat?” The woman questioned, gesturing to the assembly of students surrounding her and her men. It baffled her how one kid could cause so many people to lose their shit. Never in her life had she seen such a thing happen around her. Still, her cold indifference didn't change as she looked at the school children around her. She was honestly more annoyed than anything else. “I knew he was going to be more trouble than he's worth.”

“Tell us where he is, and we'll let you go on your way.” Crowler offered, not wanting to look at her any more. He couldn't stand the sight of the criminals. He'd never been angrier in his entire life than he was right now, staring into the eyes of the people who kidnapped his student. Most of the students wouldn't have the man pegged as one who really cared too much about his pupils so much as he cared about his job. But in truth, Crowler held a deep love for his pupils, and cared deeply for them, and was willing to do anything to ensure their safety and future where he was able to offer his aid. He would never forgive Tantalus for what they had had a hand in doing to his dear student. And he would do whatever he had to to make them all pay if he could. “Or I could simply take the information we want and turn you over to the police.”

“You touch us, and we can't guarantee the safety of your students.” The muscular man commented, turning his eyes to the smallest among the children. Syrus in turn, whimpered quietly in fear at the man’s glance. He knew what it meant, he'd been given that look several times before, and every time he received it, it meant trouble for the little bluenette. “Think we’ll start with the shrimp.”

“J-Jaden…” Syrus whimpered, his small body trembling as he tried to stand his ground through his shaky foundation.

“You will not touch one hair on their heads, you bastards!” Crowler shouted, pointing his finger at the criminals as his eyes narrowed again, the fire in his eyes burning brighter and hotter than it was burning before. An audible gasped escaped from the students, taken aback by hearing their professor swearing so openly in front of them. Of course, they weren't back at school so it's not like he could be punished for cursing in front of students. But it was still a surprise for the titular pupils. “If you want to harm anyone, you'll have to go through  _ me  _ first!”

“Sounds like a challenge to me.” The smaller male chuckled, looking to his boss for what in his mind would be the good word to go. As he took a step forward towards the stalwart professor the woman did not interfere in her partner’s attempt to assault the man before them, Crowler in turn took a step back, instinctively making an attempt to defend himself, no matter how small the gesture. “I could straighten the ruffles right out of your coat, teach.”

“Don’t you touch him!” Alexis shouted, running from her spot in the barrier circle, stopping between the kidnappers and her dear professor, arms outstretched in Crowler’s defense as her own eyes narrowed in hatred.

“Follow Private Lexi’s lead!” Hassleberry commanded, leading the rest of the group as they joined Alexis, forming a protective barrier between the kidnappers and Crowler the students stood firm, unwilling to let any harm befall their beloved professor. Sure, they were all simultaneously disobeying the professor by involving themselves any more than they were told they were allowed to, but they simply couldn’t stand by and allow the bastards who kidnapped Chazz to harm Dr. Crowler. It just wasn’t an option for them. 

“What are you doing!?” Crowler asked, flabbergasted at the blatant disregard for his orders. “I told you all to stay back!”

“And let you get hurt!?” Bastion asked, turning his gaze back on the professor, a slight glare present on his face that was meant for the kidnappers who had threatened both Syrus and their teacher within the last three minutes at least. “I’m afraid that just won’t do, Dr. Crowler.”

“Well isn’t that cute?” The woman chuckled, amused by the children’s willingness to protect their teacher even if it cost them their own safety “The students protecting the teacher.”

“Look lady,” Jaden said, positioning himself as far front as he could to become the first line of defense against a potential threat by the kidnappers, “just tell us where Chazz is. We don’t want any trouble we don’t need to have. We just want our friend back.”

“And...what would be in it for me and my men?” The woman asked, gesturing to her two partners before crossing her arms once more as she kept her cold, icy eyes trained on the brunette. There was something different about that boy, a fire that burned brighter than any she had seen before. And she wasn't sure if she should enjoy it or not. “You know I can't give you information that important for nothing.”

“I assure you, the Academy would gladly pay any sum should Chazz be returned safe and sound.” Crowler assured, pushing through the protective wall of students to stand before the woman and her entourage again, extending a hand to her his anger and hatred subsided if only for that one moment. “Please. Just tell us what we want to know, and you can go about your business.”

There was a long moment of silence between the two groups, a silence that almost felt like torture with all of the building anticipation that was going on at the same time. But after a few moments, the woman slapped Crowler’s hand away, and let out a deep sigh.

“Alright.” She said, holding her arms out to stop her men as they were appalled by her compliance with the school children. But even so, the heartless and ruthless appearance never once left her face as she spoke. “They have him in the last place someone would think to look for a kidnapped Princeton.” she explained, placing her hand back on her hip before shifting her weight again, “the Princeton family HQ. Apparently there's some lab or something there, and they've got the kid stashed away in there. Who knows what they're doing with him. Like we said, he’s probably dead.”

_ “A lab..?”  _ Jaden thought, raising an eyebrow in confusion at what he and the others had just been told,  _ “That doesn't make a lot of sense...why would they be keeping him in a lab..?” _

“There's no way.” Atticus growled, refusing to accept even the possibility that Chazz could've been killed. Sure his brothers had abused him, beaten him relentlessly and ruthlessly until his once pure and flawless body was covered in scars and plagued with a sickness that tortured the boy at every turn, almost as badly as his brothers had done before. But killing him would be just too much. “Whatever they want him for, they have to want him  _ alive.” _

“When they gave us our orders, they did explicitly state that he was not to be harmed.” The muscular man added, recalling that fact with the help of Atticus’ refusal to accept the possibility that their friend could be dead. 

“Well whatever.” The woman interrupted, shaking her head quickly before anything else could be said. “I told you what you wanted to know. Now if you'll excuse me, my partners and I will be taking our leave.”

“Very well.” Crowler nodded, content with the knowledge of his student’s prison. Now there was that much more hope for his swift rescue. “But I'm warning you.” Crowler’s fiery rage returned to his eyes, “If you  _ ever  _ lay a hand on one of my students again I will personally deliver unto all of you a reckoning most severe!”

“Whatever, teach.” The smaller man scoffed, turning on his heel as his boss began to walk away. They had no further business with each other, so she saw no reason for them to stay. Besides, they had  _ other  _ things to do with their time. And more jobs to get to work on. Crowler and his students watched quietly as Tantalus walked away from them. Satisfied with the outcome of the meeting for sure, but with anger burning in their hearts having spoken to the people who took their friend away. Of course, they knew who was really responsible, but they were angry nonetheless. But that anger was soon replaced with an unfathomable urgency.

“We've got to hurry!” Atticus declared, the worry in his heart overtaking all other feelings he could have felt. “Chazz could be in serious trouble! Who knows what his brothers are doing to him!”

“We know, Atticus.” Bastion sighed, taking a moment to consider all they had heard, crossing his arms as his eyes closed in thought. “But we must have a plan before we go rushing off. We can't just charge in there, it would only serve to put Chazz at even greater risk. We have to be smart.”

“Bastion’s right.” Syrus agreed, nodding at the older boy with his own worried expression on his adorable boyish face. “I mean...if we don't have a plan, we could end up getting Chazz really hurt..”

“Or ourselves…” Alexis added, concerned as well for their actions moving forward. Of course, they all were. They were faced with a very difficult situation to find themselves  _ and  _ Chazz a way out of. But knowing that he was locked away in the heart of his family’s operation, that only escalated the severity of the situation at hand. But no matter where he was they had all agreed, that they would do whatever it took to rescue their friend. No matter what.

______________________________

 

_ “S-Stop...please…!” Chazz pleaded, his eyes screwed shut as he found himself curled up against the wall, arms out to block  his face from another blow. His body was sore and bruised, it hurt even to hold his arms up in defense of himself. Everything hurt, glancing down Chazz saw a few droplets of blood rolling down his stomach through his torn shirt. Of all the beatings he had suffered, today's was decidedly more severe. “I-I did my best..!” _

_ “Not good enough!” Jagger shouted, his eyes void of remorse as he rammed his foot into the side of his little brother’s head, knocking him down fully to the ground in a pathetic heap. “You lost!” _

_ “I-I'm sorry..!” Chazz whimpered, slowly propping himself up from the floor, disoriented by the strong blow to his head. Looking up from the floor he saw the heartless eyes of his brothers peering down at him, staring into his very soul with their dark intentions.  _

_ “You have no excuses, Chazz!” Slade scolded, his voice raising and filled with disdain for the boy before him. “You're supposed to win! Be the best, and take over the dueling world!” before Chazz could say another word the eldest Princeton let out a frustrated half shout before bringing his belt back down on the teen like he had before, striking him hard on his back, tearing a pained cry from the boy’s battered, trembling body. “Swear to me!” he shouted, bringing it down once more on the teen’s back as he had fallen out of his slightly propped position back onto the ground, where he laid, his arms still covering his head in defense as he cried out from the pain. “Swear to me that you will never lose again!” Chazz screamed and cried from the cold metal smacking against his soft, silky skin, turning it from a flawless white to a painful red, staining the boy with blood from broken skin on his stomach and now his back. Tears flowed from his eyes as he tried to push himself through the beating, but it wasn't the first time. And it was growing to be too much. Unleashing another series of strong whips, Slade’s voice rose high over his brother’s agonized cries and strained coughs as the breath was knocked from his chest. “SWEAR TO ME!!” _

_ “I-I swear! I swear!!” Chazz coughed out, his face now red and stained with tears, sprawled out weakly on the ground, unable to push himself through the pain of curling into a protective ball with the tender, broken skin on his stomach and back, effectively staining the floor beneath his body with drops of slowly falling blood. “I-I’ll never l-lose again...!” he knew that wouldn't be enough to stop the beating, but he hoped his compliance would be enough to spare him from being beaten until he was rendered unconscious like he usually was. But no matter what he did, the tears wouldn't stop flowing through his eyes. He was always like that. The poor boy wasn't built to withstand such horrible treatment, his body just couldn't handle it, and he often cried for a while during and after a beating like that. _

_ “You better not break that promise, Chazz.” Slade threatened, taking one more swing at the boy before finally lowering his arm as a sign of stopping, though his eyes still shot hateful daggers into the young boy’s soul. _

_ “You know what'll happen if you do.” Jagger added, reaching down and grabbing the teen by the collar of his shirt, yanking him up from the ground and lifting him into the air as he hung limply in his brother’s grasp, whimpering and crying through the pain shooting up and down his body. “We won't be so forgiving next time.” _

_ “L-Let me go..” Chazz pleaded through his tears, his arms hanging weakly at his sides, otherwise he would have tried to pry his brother’s hand off of him, but the best he could do was beg for mercy. He hated feeling so helpless, but that's simply how he was then. Helpless against the tyrants ruling over him and his life, enslaving him into their own twisted regime. Narrowing his eyes at the boy in his grasp Jagger growled under his breath, roughly tossing Chazz aside, slamming his back into the wall adjacent him, leaving marks of blood from his back as he fell away back onto the hard floor, smacking his head on the cold stone. _

_ “You'll always be a slacker.” Slade scolded, his eyes narrow and heartless as he rose his arm again, ready to whip the boy one last time. “You're not worthy of the Princeton name!” swinging his arm back down Chazz braced himself for the impact, letting out a fearful cry as he turned his head away. _

_ \--- _

Chazz's eyes shot open at lightning speed, remaining wide and terrified as an agonizing cry escaped from his lips, struggling and pulling hard against his bonds, Chazz’s breathing was quick and frantic as he screamed and cried, the full panic attack taking hold over the boy from the memory he had just dreamed.

“Sir, he's reacting violently to the stimulant!” an aid called to Drewer, observing the boy’s panicked behavior, concerned with the affects the drugs were having on the poor imprisoned child.

“Get him calmed down then!” Drewer commanded, taking his own place beside the boy, clasping his hands down on his shoulders to stop him from squirming about, and effectively harming himself. “That's enough now, boy! Stop this!” smacking the boy promptly on his face as his eyes began to water from being held open so widely, his breath hitched and caught in his throat resulting in a fit of coughs to follow suit with his cries and fearful fit.

“Is there a problem, doctor?”

Drewer turned his head to see Jagger enter the room, a quizzical expression on his face as he looked towards the crying boy on the table before him.

“Oh, sir!” Drewer exclaimed, not expecting either of the brothers to drop in unless he called them to. Working to subdue the convulsing child in his grasp he leaned down on him, holding Chazz down with his arm across his chest and clasped his free hand over the boy’s mouth, muffling his screams. Chazz’s eyes had screwed themselves shut when Jagger entered the room, fearing the elder with the fresh memories in his mind, flashing across his vision in a stream of trauma. “Everything is coming along, we've introduced a stimulant to..shall we say,  _ override  _ his mind, making it easier for you and your brother to do with him as you wish. But it seems that his condition and interference with the antidepressants in his system have caused a violent mental reaction.”

“Then get him under control.” Jagger commanded, glaring at the doctor as he tried to subdue the teen. Walking over to the two of them as the aids scrambled around the room looking for something they could use to help subdue the boy, Jagger lowered his head down so that he could speak directly into Chazz’s ear, his tone low and dark. “If  _ he _ can't, then  _ I  _ will.” 

Chazz cracked open his right eye, widening them thusly, trying to retreat back at the sight of his elder brother, but Drewer’s hold on him along with the iron clamps around his wrists and ankles kept him more or less locked in place on the table. The memories fresh in his mind shot fear throughout Chazz’s entire body, causing his body to stiffen and freeze in terror, but he still breathed quick and unevenly, blinking for a moment he could feel himself growing lightheaded, unable to get enough oxygen into his lungs through just his nose, even with the oxygen tubes stuck in it while he was unable to use his mouth with Drewer’s evil hand clamped tightly over it to keep him from screaming anymore, his breath intake was too fast and erratic to do him any good.

“Keep him awake!” Jagger demanded, his hardened expression hardening even more as he noticed his brother’s slowly closing eyes. “He doesn't deserve rest!” delivering his own smack to the exposed skin on the boy’s normally paper white face he turned on his heel gracefully before storming out of the room, leaving the doctor to his own work. Just the sight of the youngest brother disgusted him enough  _ without  _ seeing him in such a pathetic state of being. The boy was unfit for the task they had entrusted him with, and no matter what was done to him now, Jagger would never see Chazz as worthy of the Princeton name. It sickened him how much time and effort was being wasted on the hopeless child.

“Alright kid, that’s enough.” Drewer said, keeping his secure grip holding Chazz down to stop him from moving, knowing that if he kept squirming and struggling it would be that much harder to calm him down. And with the oxygen tubes in his nose he didn’t necessarily have to worry about his breathing, he thought at least, but of course that would only hold true if his breathing slowed down even just a little. “Calm yourself down right now or I’ll have to do it my way, and we all know you don’t want that.”

_ “P-Please help me…!”  _ Chazz thought, unable to use his mouth to speak with Drewer’s hand still covering it tightly, reducing anything that came out to a mere muffled and mumbled mess of quiet unintelligible sounds.  _ “Save me, p-please..!”  _ he thought back to the last time he had found himself in this position, in the middle of a panic attack and being held down by someone trying to stop him. Only the last time the person holding him down was Atticus, a good friend, and not a man who had brought him harm, and whose job it was to hurt him. In that respect it was difficult for him to listen to the man, but Drewer was right, Chazz didn’t want to be subdued Drewer’s way. Chazz knew that that way would only mean getting hurt again, but he also found himself struggling to calm his racing breath and pounding heart. Growing impatient with the panicking child Drewer motioned to his closest aid, beckoning her to hand him his taser from the counter beside them. He was more than prepared to harm the boy if that's what it took to calm his attack. Also, despite what Jagger had said, he figured rendering him unconscious would be the best way to get him under control. Though the boy had spent enough of his time there either unconscious or just barely so for Chazz’s taste. Taking the device from the young lady Drewer swiftly jammed the electric current into Chazz’s side, keeping his hand clasped tightly over the boy’s mouth Chazz cried out from the pain, his cries transforming into a muffled mess like the rest of the sounds he had been making thus far. Unable to move hardly at all Chazz pulled against his bonds, tearing small cuts into the skin of his wrists and ankles, drawing small bits of blood from the miniature wounds he was inflicting upon himself through his struggles.

“Switch the drug in his IV.” Drewer commanded, taking another jab at the boy, ripping another muffled cry out of his body along with another electrical shock to his system. “We’ll empty that head of his one way or another. Even if I have to erase his mind myself, now hurry up!” hurrying, the two aids took the IV bag containing the drug that had caused this particular attack, they swiftly replaced it with another that had already been prepared for such an occasion and hooked it up to his IV tube, restarting the flow of foreign drugs into his already drug filled system. “Mr. Princeton wants this boy under his control, and to do that we need to empty his mind! It's the best way to get him submitted and compliant.”

“Y-You’re insane…!” Chazz shouted weakly, having had Drewer remove his hand from the boy’s mouth his voice was soft and hoarse from screaming and crying, as well as his slightly fried insides from the myriad electrocutions he had suffered over his time in their captivity. 

“Don't blame me, boy.” Drewer spat out, a metaphorical venom permeating through his words as he shot a deep glare at the child. “I only do as I'm ordered to do. And those brothers of yours have left it upon me to get you under control!”

“I-I'll never..let them c-control me..!” Chazz protested, putting as much strength into his hurting voice as he could. He couldn't let them get the better of him, and he knew it better than anyone. Even more than just knowing that if they got him into their tyrannical grip, that he wouldn't be able to get out again, but also that there would be no one able to put a stop to his honestly in Chazz’s eyes, evil brothers. If he had the strength to fight still he would have kept struggling, but the pain he felt throughout his entire body was growing to be too much in his already weakened physical state. His arms and legs were sore from pulling and even yanking against the iron clamps around his wrists and ankles, and now with the torn skin around them his snow white skin was stained with a deep red from the self inflicted wounds. Apart from that was the burning sensation in his chest from the previous electrocutions, and the throbbing headache he had just realized he had acquired, no doubt from the intense panic attack that he had been forced out of. Chazz simply felt too weak to physically fight anymore. But even so he tried his best to stay strong. After all, Jaden and the others couldn't save him if there was nothing left to save, and Chazz didn't plan on becoming a mindless puppet anytime soon. Besides, they just wanted him to become an undefeated dueling machine, and apparently Slade figured that with Chazz’s ability to communicate with duel monsters, they could force him to use that to tip the scales in his favor. But of course, Chazz knew better than his brothers that that wasn't how his ability worked. Honestly he wasn't sure why he could do it anyway, or what the point of it was, since it didn't seem to be all that helpful most of the time,  _ especially _ since it got him stuck with the Ojama’s all the time. But perhaps it was a blessing in disguise. 

“Oh you misunderstand, my boy.” Drewer chuckled, looming over Chazz with a dark expression plastered on his honestly not so attractive face, only adding to his sinister nature. “Who said you were being given a choice?”


	9. Chapter 9

**9**

****

“You see my boy,” Drewer began to explain, taking his pointer finger and gently tapping on the boy’s unusually pale forehead. Looking at Chazz normally, his skin was extremely white and silky, but he still looked healthy. But looking at the boy now, he looked ill, with a slightly gray tint to his skin that wasn't bloodstained or covered up, which really wasn't much. It really was concerning, “You've got too much happening up there to properly brainwash you. So I have to get that taken care of, you see.”

“What are you gonna do…?” Chazz asked, mustering up the strength to make it through a sentence without stuttering through it. Really the concept of being brainwashed wasn't exactly new to him, but it certainly wasn't an outcome that he or any of the others would want to see. And from the way Drewer was making it out to be, if they succeeded in taking him over, there would be almost no way to bring him back.

“Well, since there's nothing you can do to stop us, I don't see the harm in telling you.” Drewer shrugged, a chuckle trailing from the end of his words. “What I'm going to do, is erase those precious memories of yours one by one until you're nothing but a shell of the person you are now. And when that's done, all we have to do is simply... _ reprogram  _ your brain to do as your  _ dear _ brothers command. Of course you'll still retain your ability to communicate with those pesky duel monsters. From what information we've gathered there's no way to get rid of that even if we tried.”

“Keep your grubby hands off of the boss!” 

Chazz turned his head slightly to the origin of the small voice he was positive only he heard. Looking towards the counter to his left Chazz spotted the spirits of Ojamas Green and Black appearing over his deck which was laid carefully on the counter, away from all the equipment littering the decently sized room. The anger present on the Imp’s faces was clear and came across as such. 

“You'll have to go through us first!” Black shouted, preparing himself to take a big ol’ swing at the titular doctor for harming their precious boss. Chazz shook his head at the little imps, not wanting them to waste their time trying to help when he knew they wouldn't be able to do a thing. Raising an eyebrow at the boy Drewer looked over to see that Chazz was staring at his deck on the counter. Walking over to the assorted cards he took a moment to inspect them before turning back to Chazz. 

“Those pesky spirits again, my boy?” He asked, crossing his arms as Chazz turned his head away from him, not wanting to look at the man anymore than he already had to. “Well no matter. Soon it'll all go away..see,” he took a step closer to Chazz, placing a hand on his cold arm. “the next time your eyes open,  _ you, _ " he poked at his forehead again, “will be no more.”

“Y-You'll never get away with this..!” Chazz protested, anger boiling his blood, trying one more time to struggle against his bonds while his weakened body screamed at him to stop. But he had decided from the beginning that he wasn't going to give up without a fight. “M-My friends will stop you!”

“Your friends..?” Drewer questioned, raising an eyebrow at the child, chuckling as he remembered what little he did know about Chazz’s life at the Academy. “Ah yes, those Academy brats. And that boy who defeated you before, what was his name…” taking a moment he pretended to think before throwing his finger in the air in a point. “Ah, yes, that's right.” he chuckled as he brought down his arm. “Jaden Yuki.”

Growling as deeply as he could through his damaged throat Chazz shot a venomous glare at the doctor as he mocked his friends so callously, in a sense mocking Chazz’s belief that there was hope for him.

“Yes, I've heard of him.” Drewer nodded before turning away from the boy for a moment before turning his head back to him. “But I'm afraid he won't be rescuing you this time, boy.” growling deeply again Chazz mustered all the strength he could and spat in the doctor’s face. Leaving his eyes angry and narrowed as Drewer angrily wiped the saliva from his cheek, glaring at the boy himself.

“Bet.” Chazz said flatly, doing his best to maintain his momentum, but every fiber of his being was begging him to give in to the fatigue and hurt he felt all over. Letting out his own growl, the furious doctor stormed over to the cabinet to his right. Drewer returned and stood over Chazz, a small scalpel clutched in his right hand, placing his left hand on the boy’s head, he held it in place as he pressed the blade down into the left side of Chazz’s forehead, relishing in the child’s agonized screams as he slowly sliced an incision into his forehead, blood flowing over the edges of the cut and down the side of Chazz’s face.

“There.” Drewer said, taking a moment to marvel at his work, a furious expression remaining on his face in pure disdain for the snow white boy. “The scar will match the ones your brothers gave you.” turning back to his aids he swung his arm at them, completely out of any and all forms of patience. “Prep him for the mind erase. Now!”

“G-Go..to hell..!” Chazz coughed out, having hurt his throat more screaming like he had just then. But the pain was worth it if it meant he went down fighting, so his friends knew that he didn't give in. But he had faith in them, and faith that they would make it in time to rescue him from the fate his brothers had in store for him. But even so, the fear of his impending doom never left the poor boy’s body.

_ “Get here soon guys…”  _ he thought, closing his eyes as he took deep, slow breaths to keep himself calm,  _ “If you don't...there may not be any part of me left to save…” _

__________________________

 

“You sure we're on the right track, Bastion?” Hassleberry asked, looking over the elder student's shoulder to glance at the map he had stuck himself into. 

“Yes, I'm positive.” Bastion nodded, keeping his eyes on the paper in his hands, listening to the clanging of the metal train tracks colliding with the wheels. The Princeton group’s headquarters wasn't too far outside of Domino City, at least a town or two over, but still it was a ways. The train was their best option to getting there as quickly as they could, and with Bastion constantly checking to make sure they were going the right way and were on the right train, they planned to be there all the sooner. “This train will get us to a station within only two miles of the Princeton group’s headquarters. If the information we received from Tantalus is credible, then Chazz should be locked away somewhere inside.”

“Yeah, then we find him and bust him out of there.” Jaden added, summing up the rescue mission in a very simple manner. Of course they couldn't just charge in, but at this point did they really have any better ideas? Besides, they weren't necessarily the best at coming up with plans anyway, not that they didn't  _ try _ , things just never seemed to go quite as the group hoped they would. “We don't have any time to lose.”

“The place is bound to have really tight security.” Alexis observed, sighing quietly as she watched the scenery pass by them through the window in front of her before looking around at her friends around her for an answer, “How are we gonna get in there..? We can't just walk in the front door.”

“That's what we're trying to figure out, Lexi.” Atticus sighed, lowering his head as he himself thought about their next course of action. She brought up a good point, rescuing Chazz wasn't as simple as it sounded once they realized just where it was he was being kept. The Princeton family headquarters would be brimming with security, and would probably be nearly impossible to sneak into. But they didn't really have any other choice,  whatever it took they had to get in there and break Chazz out. He wasn't safe, and  _ wouldn't  _ be safe until he was back at Duel Academy where he and the others belonged.

“Well, if we could look at the building's schematics I would think we should be able to find an unguarded access point.” Crowler suggested, looking over the group of students for probably the millionth time, almost constantly taking a headcount to be sure everyone was there. 

“That's brilliant!” Bastion declared, looking up from his map, his eyes widened, “Why didn't I think of that!? Hold this!” shoving his map into Hassleberry’s face Bastion pulled out his electronic student notebook from his jacket pocket, tapping away at the little device.

“Um, Bastion..” Syrus observed, confused by his course of action. “I don't think our notebooks work that way..”

“Well, maybe  _ yours  _ doesn't.” Bastion pointed out, keeping his gaze fixed on the small device as the others watched him work. “But mine is different. I modified it to connect to a larger network of operation, allowing me access to a myriad of different programs and alternative uses. For one,” a small beeping sound came from the notebook as Bastion looked back up at his friends with a smile plastered to his face, “unrestricted internet access.”

“You mean to say that you deliberately tampered with Academy property??” Crowler asked, flabbergasted not only that he would do such a thing, but also that he was so open about it. “As your teacher I  _ should _ punish you. But luckily for you, we have more important things to worry about right now.”

“That's right, we do.” Jaden nodded, agreeing with Dr. Crowler's statement. Besides, Bastion would be Bastion after all. And aside from that it was helpful that they had a way to make things a little bit easier for them so they wouldn't have to waste a great deal of time and effort wandering around looking for what to do. “Bastion, you're brilliant!”

“Yes,” Bastion replied, smiling confidently as he showed his notebook’s screen to the others. The electronic notebook’s small screen now showed an archive system displaying the plans for the Princeton family HQ, a large and imposing structure to say the least. “I know.”

“Good work, soldier!” Hassleberry praised, patting Bastion on the back, careful not to let it be too strong, not that Bastion couldn't handle it but still. “Now let's get on to searching for that access point!”

“Yes of course.” Bastion nodded, returning to his work as the others crowded around him, but giving him enough space to do his work. “Now, every main access way is out.” he explained, drawing small X’s over each doorway with the notebook’s stylus as the others listened intently. “And even if we were to sneak in a back way, there are security points all throughout the building, we’d be sure to get caught.”

“Then what do we do, Bastion..?” Syrus asked, worried that they wouldn't be able to find a way to get in without getting themselves caught, which could potentially put Chazz in even greater danger than he had to be in already. 

“I hate to be so cliche, but..”

“Let me guess.” Atticus said, cocking his head to the side as his arms crossed across his chest. “We’re sneaking through the air ducts, aren't we?”

“To a point, yes.” Bastion nodded, pointing out the path he had mapped out to the rest of the group. “On the east side of the building there is a ventilation shaft that comes out just low enough for us to be able to climb into, of course once we can get it open.”

“You leave that to me, son.” Hassleberry said, brandishing his muscles again with a determined smile on his face. “I'll have it open in no time!”

“Yes, quite.” Bastion said, returning to his plan explanation “See, this shaft,” he pointed out, “leads down to the entrance of the laboratory. Once we get past the security door we can travel more in the open. The lab has extremely restricted access, so there's really only the one checkpoint. Which means to escape we’ll have to knick ourselves a security card from someone down there.”

“Shouldn't be a problem.” Jaden said, shrugging his shoulders as he himself considered what they would find themselves up against when they reached the laboratory. “What I'm worried about is getting Chazz out of there in one piece.”

“That's true..” Alexis said quietly, placing the joint of her pointer finger against her teeth, worried greatly for their friend. She cared very deeply for her friends, even Chazz, who honestly got on her nerves a lot, especially since he was hitting on her all the time and she really had no interest in him that way. But when he found himself in danger she too found herself worrying almost as much as Jaden did when Syrus was in trouble. Of course, she worried like that for all of her friends, but she only really noticed it once the Chazz fiasco started only a week ago. “If he’s already hurt when we get to him..”

“He’s gonna be fine, Lex.” Atticus asserted, his eyes narrow and focused as he thought about their dear friend. Atticus had made himself a vow to protect the boy after learning everything he had from Chazz, things that nobody else knew about, and that would inevitably come up once he was rescued. He hated knowing what had been done to Chazz in the past. It only served to anger him even more than he needed to be. 

“I hope we get there soon..” Syrus sighed, sitting back down in his seat, also very worried for their friend. The small boy’s sparkling gray eyes dulled as he turned his gaze to the train’s floor, listening to the clanging of the train on the tracks. Jaden sighed quietly to himself, shaking his head before taking a seat next to his best friend, wrapping his arm around the bluenette’s slender shoulders, giving him a little squeeze as he pulled the boy slightly closer to him.

“It's gonna be okay, Sy.” Jaden said, making an attempt to console the emotional teen. Syrus had a habit of becoming overly emotional in dramatic situations, or even normal situations. But Jaden was always there to help calm the boy down and comfort him when he needed to be. “So don't you worry, okay,”

“But Jaden..” Syrus whined, looking up at the brunette giving him a bro-side-hug, his gray eyes regaining their sparkle as he looked at his best friend, worry still present in his face and tone.

“But nothing, Sy.” Jaden protested, shaking his head before locking his own brown eyes with the gray ones staring back at him, keeping his arm firmly but gently around the smaller boy’s shoulders in a consoling gesture. “We’re gonna make it in time.” he reassured, “We’re gonna find Chazz, and we’re gonna get him out of there and back to the Academy safe and sound. And like I said before, if anything happens, I'll protect you. So don't be so worried, okay..?”

“I'm sorry, Jay..” Syrus sighed, looking away from the brunette again, “It's just that this whole thing is so serious and stressful for us all..and well.. _ different  _ from anything we've had to deal with before..I just..” he sighed quietly one more time, “I don't know what to do, you know..?”

“Yeah, I do know..” Jaden nodded, keeping the boy close to him and he looked over to the rest of their friends, who were still huddled around Bastion discussing what they were going to do once they arrived. “Everybody’s on edge. Heck, even  _ I'm _ kind of freaked out myself..but I promise, Sy. No matter what happens, it'll all work out. And soon, we'll all be chillin’ back at Duel Academy just like old times.” patting Syrus gently on the back Jaden smiled down at the bluenette beside him, hoping his smile would be returned in kind. Never more so than times like these were Syrus’ smiles so precious and cherished, as any happiness from the boy was. Syrus was a ray of sunshine for the group, and sometimes, just seeing him happy was enough to keep them going. “Hear me? I  _ promise. _ ”

“Okay..” Syrus sighed, nodding at his best friend. Jaden had never let him down or steered him wrong before, and he doubted the brunette would start now after all this time. Still, it was hard not to worry. Syrus was the best at that after all, but the boy did his best to make a solid effort to stay calm and collected. Jaden nodded back, a gentle smile gracing his own adorable face before giving Syrus’ shoulder another gentle squeeze of reassurance. 

“Hey, Sarge, we’re almost there.” Hassleberry informed, pointing out the window to the skyline on the horizon ahead of them. The others looked after him, taking note of just how close they had to be by now time wise. It wouldn't be too much longer now.

“Good.” Jaden said, his eyes fixed on the goal ahead as he and Syrus joined the others by the window, “The sooner we get there the better.”

“I agree.” Crowler nodded, looking back to his students with a serious look in his eyes. “But I want you all to promise me something.” he said as the kids turned to him, “I want you to promise not to do anything foolish, and to stay together at all times. Splitting up is not an option, engaging with a dangerous foe is not an option, and most importantly. Getting hurt is not an option. Do you hear me?”

“Of course, Crowler.” Alexis nodded, speaking for the whole group as she knew full well they would all agree in this situation. “We promise we’ll be careful.”

“But you have to promise too, doc.” Atticus asserted, taking a step closer to the professor with his own serious look in his eyes. “We're all in this, so we  _ all  _ have to be careful. That includes you, so don't be a hero trying to protect us.” smiling only slightly, Atticus placed his hand on Crowler’s shoulder. “You're our guardian right now, but you have to protect yourself too.”

“But Atticus It's my job to-"

“-Oh to hell with that!” Atticus shouted, his eyes keeping their intensity, though his face turned concerned, and even a little sad as he squeezed Crowler’s shoulder. “Crowler, what would we do if you got hurt?! I know you care about our safety but  _ we  _ care about  _ yours  _ too! Besides, one of us is already hurt beyond repair! Chazz trusted me with that knowledge. I swore to myself that I would protect him, and then this happened! And for god’s sake, I'll be damned if I couldn't protect someone else too!”

They all stared at the oldest student, silence overtaking them as they were taken aback as well as confused by his outburst. Atticus never shouted like that...much less at Dr. Crowler…

“Atticus, what are you talking about…?” Alexis asked, slowly approaching her older brother, reaching her hand up and placing it gently on his shoulder. 

“This isn't about me anymore, my boy, I know.” Crowler observed, taking his student's hand off of his shoulder, slowly lowering it down to Atticus’ side. “Tell me, what's wrong?”

“Yeah, soldier.” Hassleberry added, taking a step towards his elder, “What do you mean, ‘If I couldn't protect someone else’ and, ‘hurt beyond repair’..? What are you talking about?”

“I think I know.” Bastion said, placing his electronic notebook back into its place secured in his pocket.

“So do I.” Jaden nodded, his eyes narrowing slightly as he too stepped forward. “It's Chazz, isn't it? You know something we don't. Don't you?”

Atticus’s entire body stiffened as Jaden's words reaches his ears, and upon the realization of what he had just done. Of course he didn't do anything wrong, but freaking out like that wasn't normally something he did. And he never shouted like that, not if he wasn't under the influence of the darkness that consumed and taken him back in Jaden’s first year. His mind jumped immediately to his last encounter with Chazz as the memory flashed across his vision.

\---

_ “You've seen doctors about this, haven't you?” Atticus asked, just trying to cover all of his bases and just over all put the pieces all together in his mind. He was going to have to tell the others about what he had learned and seen when he saw them again. He figured he may as well gather all the facts.  _

_ “Of course I have.” Chazz answered, bringing up his left hand he began rubbing his forehead for a moment before leaving it covering his left eye, sighing quietly to himself. “But I never told anybody. And when my brothers found out...well…” he sighed again, “Look.” slowly lifting his shirt Chazz revealed a series of small scars all across his stomach, chest, and sides. Atticus gasped when he saw them, covering his mouth with his free hand in his surprise and shock. He knew Chazz had been mentally and emotionally abused...but he never imagined… _

_ “A-Are those all..?” _

_ “Not all of them.” Chazz explained,  shaking his head at Atticus’ notion. “But yeah, that's the basic idea..” _

_ “So that's why..?” _

_ “Why I freaked out when Jaden grabbed me, and when you touched me?” Chazz sighed, nodding his head as he let go of his shirt, the dark purple fabric dropping back down, concealing the old wounds again in their shroud.  “Yeah.” Looking back up at the elder, Chazz’s normally shiny black eyes were dull and empty. Sad, and even looked defeated. The poor boy had been through more than any of them had ever imagined. “And why I haven't told anybody.” He shrugged, looking away again “In case you were wondering.” _

_ \--- _

 

“What do you know, Atticus?” Jaden reiterated, his tone turning his statement into more of a command to tell than a question, “You've been hiding something from us, so tell us.”

“I…” Atticus started, taking a moment to collect his thoughts and choose his words carefully, what he had to say wasn't exactly good after all. “I have.” he sighed, looking over his friends, shame overcoming him for keeping the secret for so long when they had the right to know. Before he continued Jaden glanced back at Syrus, his eyes conveying  _ ‘I told you so’  _ while his face retained a serious demeanor. Syrus in turn, was surprised by the turn of events, willing to admit that Jaden in fact did tell him so.

“What is it, Atticus…?” Alexis asked, concerned by her brother's silence and tone. 

“Chazz he..well…” Atticus began, still not quite sure what to say, so he took a deep breath, and pushed himself through it. “He was abused by his brothers for many years before he came to the academy.”

“We know, Atticus.” Bastion said, raising an eyebrow at the older brunette.

“No, you don't.” Atticus retorted, shaking his head at the genius. “There's more to it than what you know.” he sighed quietly before delivering the appalling news, “He wasn't just abused mentally and emotionally. He was also abused...physically…”

“You don't mean…” Crowler gasped, trailing off the end of his sentence unable to finish his thought, slightly covering his mouth with his right hand, already knowing the answer to his question.

“I do.” Atticus nodded, lowering his head to the floor, unable to look his friends in the eyes. “He's been beaten and broken for almost his whole life. He has scars all over his torso…”

“How do you know that…?” Hassleberry asked, horrified by the news they had just received from the eldest and normally most chipper among them.

“He showed them to me, when I stopped his panic attack before..” Atticus explained, audibly upset by even just the memory itself. “The subject came up and…” he sighed, shaking his head before looking back up, turning and locking eyes with Jaden who was now standing in front of him. “I'm sorry I didn't say anything. But I didn't think he would want me to go spreading something like that around...even to you guys.”

“Damn…” Hassleberry whispered, completely shocked by what Atticus revealed to them. It wasn't every day they heard that a close friend had been abused and beaten by their family their entire lives.

“We understand, Atticus.” Syrus said, nodding at the elder student with a gentle glint in his concerned eyes, “You don't have to apologize, you did what you thought Chazz would want you to do.”

“That's right, and that's very admirable of you.” Crowler nodded, placing a hand on the brunette’s shoulder. “The important thing is that now something can be done. And his brothers won't be able to hurt him anymore.”

“But when he told me about it, I made a vow to protect him..” Atticus replied, shaking the professor’s hand off of his shoulder “and then this happened..some friend I am..”

“That's not true, Atty…” Alexis said, sadness overtaking her at her brother's anguish and doubt. Seeing her brother so upset hurt her more than anything. She and her brother were so close, she almost felt bad about it. Both of her friends with older brothers didn't really have the best relationships with them, and yet she and Atticus were like best friends.. “You're probably the best friend Chazz has. You couldn't have known what was going to happen to him.”

“Alexis is right.” Bastion agreed, nodding at her before turning to Atticus. “None of us could have predicted that Chazz would get kidnapped. You can't blame yourself for something you had no control over.”

“Bastion is right.” Crowler nodded, rallying behind his most intelligent student. After all, he was right about what he had said in the first place. This was nobody’s fault but Chazz’s brothers’. “Besides, we’re going to rescue Chazz and he’ll be okay. His brothers won’t get away with this, I swear that to you my boy.”

“Crowler’s got a point.” Jaden agreed, his eyes turning back to the ever approaching skyline of the city, they were very close now. And the towering structure of the Princeton family headquarters seemed to loom over them even at the distance they were still away. Anger boiling inside of him, Jaden’s eyes narrowed as he thought upon all of the pain that had been caused to his dear friend by the overlords of that accursed place. “When we find Chazz, we're going to see to it that he's safe from  _ any  _ harm. And his brothers are going to pay for what they've done to him.”

The group nodded together, anger boiling in all of their blood and hearts. Friends were very important to every single one of them, and one of their closest had been more or less mutilated in both mind and body by his own family. Chazz had always been put through terrible hardships throughout his life, that had been clearly evident in the time he'd spent with them, that had always led them to even subtly protect him, but now they formed a silent pact forged in the hardest metaphorical steel to never let the poor boy come to harm again. And if that meant tearing his family apart for his own good and protection, then that was a price they agreed they were willing to pay in order to save Chazz.

Jaden sighed quietly to himself as he thought about all that had happened and what he had learned. All of his friends were irreplaceable to him, they meant the world to him and because of that, Jaden would risk anything he had to to protect them from harm, something he had displayed for Syrus on multiple occasions before. But this time it wasn't Syrus he and the others were desperate to rescue. This time it was Chazz. Someone they never expected to be thrust into something like this..it was awful to think about what could be happening to him even at that very moment, but that was why they were there at all. And no matter what it took, they all agreed on one thing. That they would rescue Chazz from his brothers, and they would do whatever to took to see him delivered from their evil clutches.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Chazzy, he's not having much fun at all, is he? Well, it only gets worse so...  
> And Atticus finally comes clean! Looks like Jay was right all along. Still a ways to go for that J-Squad and poor poor Chazzy, but it'll be okay I promise!  
> Anyway, I hope you guys are enjoying things so far and I hope you all enjoy the last few chapters as they go up, and thanks for the support so far as well I really appreciate it :)


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Apologizing to poor Chazzy in advance for this one

** 10 **

****

“And you're positive your plan will succeed?”

_ “Oh yes, sir. There's no doubt in my mind. Once the boy’s mind is erased my team and I can in a sense, reprogram him, to serve the two of you without question.”  _ Drewer explained, advocating for his chosen course of action as he spoke to Slade, informing him about the progress he was making with Chazz.

“Good.” Slade nodded, holding his office phone to his ear using his shoulder as he typed away on his computer, working on some actual projects he had begun before he and Jagger created their plan to kidnap Chazz from the Academy. “But if you can’t reprogram him, then what?”

_ “Well in that event, we’ll have a back up plan.”  _ Drewer informed,  _ “You see once I learned about your brother’s abilities, I took the liberty of producing a machine to extract the boy’s duel energy. A force that resides in all of us, and the scans we took before revealed that young Chazz’s body is host to a surplus of this energy. If I can extract enough of that energy, I should be able to engineer a device that can recreate a sort of synthesized version of his ability. But of course it will be much more powerful. But of course, that's merely the backup plan in the unlikely event that the first plan fails.” _

“And in that event, I assume if the reprogramming fails Jagger and I can still have dominion over the dueling world even without Chazz?” Slade inquired, raising an eyebrow in intrigue at the doctor’s given information.

_ “Yes, that is the general idea.”  _ Drewer answered, nodding at his boss’s question,  _ “But of course, I do highly doubt it will come to that.” _

“As do I.” Slade agreed, nodding as well as he continued his own work, “Well get on with it then, and inform me as soon as you’ve finished. No matter what outcome you recieve.”

_ “Yes, of course.”  _ Drewer replied, prepared to do whatever it would take to please the elder Princeton brothers. 

Taking the phone from his ear Slade placed it back on its receiver, effectively hanging up the phone as he continued his work. The Princeton brothers weren't exactly known for being nice people, but allowing a slightly deranged scientist to erase and ultimately reprogram their little brother's brain to serve them without question was reaching an entirely new low than even abusing him for his entire life already was. Continuing his work Slade glanced over at the security footage on the monitors decorating the left side of his office wall adjacent the desk, focusing on the footage from the lab containing his youngest brother. Chazz laid in the upper center of the room, shackled to the table he’d been stuck too for a while now. His eyes were closed, and breath looked slow and regular, like he had been rendered unconscious once again by whatever drug they had placed in the IV in his left arm. Chazz had never looked so weak and helpless than he did in that moment, trapped and hooked up to a myriad of different scientific devices like he himself was an experiment.

_ “I've gotta hand it to Dr. Drewer.”  _ he thought, smirking as the man placed the mind eraser on the boy’s head while he readied the boy to be drained of his memories and individually.  _ “The man is brilliant. Though I must say mine and Jagger's more...simple approach to controlling Chazz worked just fine before. Of course, the slacker still wasn't very compliant.” _

“Slade.” 

Looking away from the security footage Slade watched as Jagger entered the office, his eyes serious and stoic as both brothers usually were. 

“What is it?” Slade asked, raising an eyebrow as his brother approached him.

“I've just been informed that a group of Duel Academy students and their professor have entered the city.” Jagger informed, narrowing his eyes as he turned his gaze to Chazz on the security feed. “No doubt they're here to try and reclaim Chazz.”

“No need to worry about that.” Slade dismissed, returning to his work. “Even if they came here, they wouldn't reach him in time. Besides, there's no way for them to get past our security even if they tried.”

“Yes but if they did-"

“-They won't.” Slade asserted, narrowing his eyes as he continued to work. “A simple group of school children is too weak to overcome my security team. They won't be able to save Chazz. He's ours now.” glancing back at the footage, Slade smirked slightly once more as he took in the sight before returning to his work for the final time. “And he will be, forever.”

_____________________________

 

“Everyone be quick and quiet!” Jaden commanded as the group rounded the corner, finally coming upon the Princeton family headquarters. “We can't let them catch us!”

“The air duct is on the east side, right Bastion?” Alexis asked, taking note of how honestly massive the dark and imposing building was. Also how many security guards and cameras had to be around the place. She already knew it, but rescuing Chazz certainly wasn't going to be easy…

“That's right.” Bastion nodded, quickly leading them across the street at a far enough distance that they wouldn't look suspicious to any guards that could be stationed by the entrance. Fortunately for them, there was a decently sized crowd walking the sidewalk, allowing them ample cover to sneak around to the east side of the building without difficulty. “There's the air duct, now we just have to get it open.”

“Leave it to me, soldier.” Hassleberry said proudly, flexing his muscles for a moment before he approached the vent. The others stood by and watched as he pried at the vent cover, slowly and painstakingly tearing the cover from its place, tossing it aside before he turned back to the others, a triumphant look on his face. “Everybody in! We've got no time to lose!”

“You're right.” Alexis nodded, taking a step closer before hoisting herself up into the decently sized ventilation shaft “It's not too small in here, we should all be able to fit easily.” she called to the others, maneuver her body around so she could face them.  “Come on, hurry it up!”

“One problem with that, Lexi.” Atticus interrupted, glancing down at the bluenette standing beside Jaden before looking back to his little sister. “It's a bit too high up for Sy here to reach.”

“Hey!” Syrus protested, shooting an adorable pouty face at the older brunette, though he knew full well how small he was it normally didn't really bother him when people pointed it out. But that was just embarrassing. 

“Not a problem.” Jaden concluded, taking the bluenette over to the wall. “Get ready, Lex.” nodding back to Jaden Alexis extended her arms, ready to help the small boy get into the duct.

“Ready for what..?” Syrus asked, not really paying attention to the female student so much as he was looking back at Jaden in a slight bit of confusion before that confusion turned into surprise. Jaden bent down slightly, placing his hands under the boy’s arms before hoisting him up towards Alexis’s outstretched arms as she took hold of the small boy, pulling him into the vent with her. 

“See?” Jaden said, smiling as he extended a thumbs up to Alexis after she successfully got Syrus into the shaft. “No problem. You good, Sy? Sorry for the surprise there.”

“Uh, yeah. I-I'm fine, Jaden.” Syrus nodded, indeed surprised by Jaden’s action. Of course he had realized he was too small to get into the vent on his own, but he certainly wasn't expecting Jaden to lift him like that. The vent wasn't  _ that  _ much higher than he could reach. Really if Alexis had just reached down she probably could have pulled him up herself, it's not like Sy was that heavy or anything, and Lex was stronger than she looked. But of course Syrus was willing to let it go so long as nobody made a big deal about it, and they were able to rescue Chazz.

“Come on, Sy, let's give the others room to get in.” Alexis suggested, grabbing the bluenette’s tiny arm as she crawled back further into the duct, taking Syrus with her so that the others had room to enter alongside them.

“Going up!” Jaden declared, placing his hands on the edge of the shaft, taking a slight hop as he pulled his body upwards and into the vent, followed by Bastion and Hassleberry, leaving Atticus and Crowler still outside the building.

“Go on, Atticus.” Crowler said, gesturing to the vent as the others waited for the two remaining members of the group to follow. “I'll watch our backs, besides I'm the largest and I'd hate to slow you down.” 

Atticus nodded to the professor, knowing full well that Crowler wouldn't allow him to object even if he wanted to. Besides now was hardly the time to start arguing anyways, not when they were so close to finding Chazz and rescuing him from the sick bastards calling themselves his older brothers. As far as Atticus was concerned they had no right to even think about being Chazz’s brothers after what they'd done to him over the years. Older brothers were supposed to love and protect their younger siblings, not abuse them and treat them like trash. And as an older brother himself Atticus took personal offense to every horrendous act the elder Princeton's had done, and made it his personal mission to put an end to them. By the time he was done with them, Slade and Jagger would never be able to harm Chazz again. 

“If you say so.” Atticus replied, hosting himself up into the air vent before stopping to wait for Dr. Crowler who swiftly followed suit, bringing with him the vent cover and sliding it back into place before he slowly maneuvered his body around to move forward with his students.

“Okay, we’re all in.” Hassleberry observed, silently taking a head count as he looked over the group now situated in the ventilation shaft as they readied to make their way to finding their friend.

“Now how far is the lab, Bastion?” Alexis questioned, her hand still wrapped around Syrus’s small arm as she had kept pulling him farther in as the others had entered the duct, making sure there was enough room for them all to fit even though the vents were actually not that small as far as width was concerned, it was more the height that could prove a challenge for their taller members, namely the good doctor himself.

“Well using the ventilation, it shouldn't be too far per say.” Bastion explained, taking out his notebook as he pulled up a map of the vent system. “A few twists and turns but otherwise it's a pretty straightforward path. But we must be quiet and cautious. We can't let anyone find out we're in here or we could put Chazz at greater risk, as well as ourselves.”

“No worries, Bastion.” Jaden said, shaking his head at the resident genius among them. “We've got this. Chazz will be out of here and safe back at the Academy in no time!”

“Yeah, and his brothers will pay for what they've done.” Atticus added, completely stuck on the concept of making Chazz’s brothers pay no matter what he had to do to make it so. The others nodded in agreement, also wanting to deliver unto Slade and Jagger their own forms of divine reckoning, though not nearly as much as the eldest brunette as they couldn't understand how angry he was not being older brothers like he was. In fact the only other siblings in the group were both the younger ones of their respective families. But still as Chazz’s friends, they understood Atticus’s determination to rescue and protect the poor boy. After all, he’d been through enough already  _ without _ this whole ordeal going down.

“Move out, soldiers.” Hassleberry commanded, motioning for the group to move forward with Alexis leading the way as she was currently at the head of the line having entered the air duct before anyone else. Letting go of the tiny bluenette Lex nodded before crawling forwards in the only direction they could go, being careful of her short skirt, cursing under her breath at herself for making herself go first without considering that little detail.

_ “We’re on our way, Chazz.”  _ Jaden thought, keeping an eye on the friends in front of him while he crawled forwards next to the bluenette, aiming to get in front of him instinctively to protect Syrus from any potential threat as he always had, despite highly doubting that they would run into danger inside the ventilation shaft. But no matter where he was or what was happening, protecting Syrus had always taken precedence over pretty much everything for the Slifer, who refused to allow his closest and dearest friend to come to any harm, just like he realized Atticus felt in this moment about Chazz.  _ “Just hang in there, buddy...we're almost there..” _

___________________________

 

_ “P-Please...stop..” Chazz cried, held down on the hospital bed by a nurse as the other nurse tied him down, ordered by the two elder Princeton's not to let the boy get away while his wounds were treated. They knew full well that Chazz would try and escape if he could. The boy knew by now that when he was brought to the Princeton’s private doctor it meant that he was only being healed so the elder brothers could hurt him more. “L-Let me go…!” _

_ “Sorry, kiddo.” The nurse tying him down to the bed said, her dark red hair falling into her face as she looked over at the small boy, who was only about fourteen at the time and would be headed to Duel Academy the next school year. “But you know the orders. You're not going anywhere.” _

_ “That's right.” The other nurse nodded, her blonde ponytail bouncing with the motion of her head. “If you got out and told anyone, the bosses wouldn't be very happy. You know how they hurt you when they're in a good mood. Don't even think about how bad it could be if they're angry.” _

_ The red headed nurse nodded in agreement, tightly pulling at the ropes she had secured around the young boy’s wrists, attaching them to the sides of the bed as he wiggled and struggled weakly as the wounds inflicted on him left him in a state of consuming pain, new scars forming on his chest and even his back by the beating he had received earlier that morning after the brothers had returned from an all nighter at work. It was always like this. The two eldest would beat Chazz until he couldn't take anymore, unless for some reason they were feeling ‘merciful’, and stopped before any real damage had been done. And after the boy was broken enough the two would take him to their family’s private doctor to be treated and healed, only to have Chazz beaten again once he was well enough. And every time he was sent to the hospital after the worst and most savage beatings, the nurses would be ordered to tie him down so he would be unable to escape. _

_ “Y-You can't do this to me!” Chazz protested, struggling in his bonds as he thought back on the other occasional times he had been trapped like this even in the hospital. Most of the time he was let alone, but rarely he would be restrained and kept extra long until the brothers decided it was okay for Chazz to be released. _

_ “Kid, we can do whatever we want to you.” The ginger replied, nodding to the blonde nurse as she headed towards the cabinets to gather medications and bandages to help care for the boy’s injuries as they were hired to do as nurses after all. “Anything but hurt you, that is. But that’s pretty much a given.” _

_ “Just relax, okay?” The blonde nurse soothed, lifting his shirt to uncover the new wounds present on his pale, fragile body with one hand, and a damp cloth in the other. “I'm going to clean you up, but this might sting a little.” having warned the boy of the impending discomfort, the nurse placed the cloth on his first open wound, the antiseptic cleaning fluid dampening the cloth soaking into his body, sending a burning, tingling sensation up and down the young boy’s body. Hissing at the sting, Chazz flinched and squirmed in discomfort as the blonde nurse dabbed the antiseptic cloth over his fresh wounds, and even a few sensitive older ones that hadn't yet completely healed. Screwing his eyes shut Chazz pushed himself through the discomfort, trying his best not to pull at his wrists too hard so he wouldn't rub his wrists raw and cause more problems for himself. _

_ “You're doing good.” the blonde soothed, shifting him slightly so she could reach the cuts on his back while the ginger began preparing his stomach and chest to be bandaged up. He hated being here, he had always hated hospitals, but he hated their own the most. Being there always meant his brothers wanted him patched up so they could beat him more without permanently damaging him. Being in the Princeton's hospital was far from a mercy. In it's own way, it was a curse, a punishment in and of itself.  _

_ “There's no escape for me…” Chazz thought, whimpering pitifully as the nurses patched up and cleaned his wounds. “I-I’m trapped...I...I just want them to let me go…” _

\---

Chazz’s eyes opened quickly, but he immediately realized something was different about where he was. The space was dark and cloudy, and his body felt light and limp. Concerned about his physical state Chazz tried to move his arm, blinking in surprise he realized that his limbs were not only free, but they didn't hurt. None of his body hurt, and he was back in his own clothes again.

“What the hell…?” He asked himself quietly, looking around at the dark empty space around him Chazz shivered as he lifted himself right side up from the lying down position he was in before. “Damn, it's cold..” he observed, wrapping his coat tighter around his thin frame, watching as he saw the thin puffs of his breath exiting his mouth as he breathed slowly in and out while he shivered there, “W-Where the hell a-am I…?” looking around the dark space Chazz saw just that. Darkness. All around him with no light in sight. The feeling of isolation closing in on him was enough to send him into a panic attack all on its own, but Chazz pushed himself through it as much as he could. It hurt his heart to be in this place. It was as if every feeling of sadness, fear, and anxiety he ever felt was here, and was closing in on him, suffocating him with overwhelming feeling. His heart pounded in his chest, his breathing hitched, and Chazz could feel the panic setting in. This place was a prison if he’d ever seen one alright. Suddenly a light shined through the darkness in an almost blinding fashion. Covering his eyes with his arm, Chazz turned slightly away from the light, slowly uncovering his eyes as the light died down, his eyes widened at what he saw.

“T-That's me!” He shouted in surprise, feasting his eyes on the image of himself back at Duel Academy, brandishing his Obelisk Blue coat as he dueled against Jaden. “That's...when I dueled against Jaden for the first time...” he observed, taking a step closer to the image, reaching his hand out to touch the memory. Placing his hand on the bright image, his pale, dainty hand phased through it, sending him stumbling forwards through the rippling and hazy lights. “Wha-" turning back Chazz’s eyes widened as the memory shattered before his eyes like broken glass before more and more familiar images appeared around him. But the one that had shattered..

“What was I just...looking at..?” Chazz whispered to himself, looking down at the hand that had touched the now shattered light. “Oh shit..” he had already realized something wasn't right the moment he found himself in this space, but now he had an idea as to just what it was. “That's right, I remember now..” he observed, looking around at the familiar scenes around him, his eyes fixating on the most recent one. What he saw was himself, shackled to a table, hooked up to a bunch of different devices with a scientist doctor guy standing over him. “That Dr. Drewer guy said they were going to erase my mind, so that thing that shattered just now…” then the realization hit him. “Oh fuck!” quickly looking back at the memories surrounding him, as one by one they began to shatter. His eyes already wide he noticed a tingling in his hand, looking back down his eyes widened further and a gasp escaped from him as he beheld the sight. His body was starting to glow, but his hand had begun to almost disintegrate into particles of light.

“What's going on!?” he shouted, his heart pounding in his chest as he watched his memories disappear one by one, and his body slowly disappear. Moving to grab at his disintegrating hand Chazz was suddenly held back by an oppressive force. Looking back to his arm he gasped as a mass of darkness wrapped itself around his arm, holding tightly to it before the rest of his limbs were assaulted in the same manner. 

“Hey! Let me go!!” Chazz called out, struggling against the darkness taking hold of him. Craning his neck up as far as he could as the dark mass crawled its way around his neck, trying to reach his mouth to quiet him.

_ “W-What the fuck’s going on!?”  _ he thought, struggling as much as he could in a vain attempt to free himself.  _ “If I'm stuck in my own head because of all the drugs...w-why is this happening to me!?”  _ widening his eyes he realized what was happening to him,  _ “I-If they’re erasing my memories then...oh dammit, dammit they're erasing  _ me _!” _

“Jaden!” He called out into the darkness, his eyes screwed shut as he tried his best to shake off the dark entity overtaking his slowly disappearing body, “Atticus! Anyone!!” tears fell from Chazz’s eyes as the fear consumed him, mustering up every ounce of strength he could find within himself to call out one more time before the shadowy mass stopped him from speaking. “HELP ME!! PLEA-" the end of his cry cut off as the shadowy mass wrapped itself tightly around the boy’s mouth, restricting his cries and reducing them to a series of muffled sounds just like he had been multiple times before in the passed two or so days at least. Tears fell from the boy’s eyes like a waterfall as he struggled against the darkness, dropping down to his knees when the darkness proved too strong to break through. 

_ “Please help me…” _

_ __________________________ _

 

“We’re almost there.” Bastion informed, glancing back down at his map to give Alexis the proper directions as she was still at the head of the line. “Just one more right.”

“Finally…” Syrus whined, his knees hurt from crawling around for what felt like hours, just like the rest of them, but of course Sy was the first to complain. 

“Let's hurry.” Jaden suggested, looking back at his friends behind him he could see how uncomfortable all of the much taller and broader people in the group were being cramped inside the ducts. Especially Dr. Crowler, who's rather large stature made it difficult for him to move quickly in the small space to which he was confined. “Chazz needs us  _ now,  _ and besides, I think it's about time we get Crowler somewhere with..you know...more accommodating height..”

“I-I'm alright, my boy.” Crowler protested, crawling behind his students at a slightly slower pace, indeed extremely uncomfortable after what felt like forever stuck in the small space. True the width of the vents wasn't an issue, as they had enough room to shift about easily or even turn around, but the height was another story. The very small height had kept Crowler uncomfortably hunched down as his tall body couldn't quite comfortably exist in the space. But he was doing his best to endure it as not to slow the group down. “Don't worry about me.”

“Hang in there, doc.” Atticus said, turning his head as well to the professor behind him, his gentle glint beginning to return to eyes as he continued onwards. “We’re almost there.”

“What's the plan when we get there, Bastion?” Hassleberry asked as they approached their destination. “How are we gonna find Chazz in this place?”

“Well, naturally we search the place.” Bastion stated, putting his notebook away as Alexis stopped, pulling out the vent cover they needed gone to get down into the corridors of the laboratory.

_ “Kuri kuri!” _

Turning his head to the side Jaden smiled as he saw the spirit of his little furry friend appear beside him, a look of determination on his adorable furry face.

“Winged Kuriboh?” Jaden asked, smiling at what his partner had said. “You wanna help us look?”

“Spirits again?” Alexis asked, waiting for the good word before descending into the laboratory compound below them.

_ “Kuri!” _

“Thanks, buddy.” Jaden smiled, watching as the little fuzzball floated down into the laboratory and began his own search for the raven haired teen before nodding to Alexis. “Go ahead, Lex.”

Nodding back at Jaden Alexis carefully lowered herself down the hole, holding on to the edge for a moment before letting go and landing safely on the ground below her feet. Looking around to make sure no one was around she cupped her hands around her mouth before calling quietly back up to her friends.

“The coast is clear.” She informed, motioning for the rest of the group to descend from the ducts. “Come on down.”

“Okay, Alexis.” Syrus answered, nodding at the girl below them. Looking back at the others he already saw the idea forming in Jaden’s eyes. “Jaden, I can do this on my own.”

“Who said you couldn't?” The brunette questioned, getting in position to exit the vent himself, situating himself by the edge of the hole.

“You've got that look in your eye, Jay. I'm not completely helpless, you know. I  _ can _ do things on my own.” Syrus sighed, honestly tired of the way Jaden treated him like a little kid all the time in these situations. Sure he knew the brunette was just trying to protect him as his best friend, but sometimes it got really frustrating.

“Get a move on, Sarge!” Hassleberry commanded, honestly starting to go a little stir crazy trapped in the ventilation system for so long. “We don't have time to waste!”

“Oh! Sorry.” Jaden said, taking one last look at Syrus before he began lowering himself down. “Look, just be careful, Sy. Looks like it's a decent way down.”

“I'm not  _ that  _ small..” Syrus pouted quietly to himself as Jaden joined Alexis down on the actual ground, looking up at the shaft waiting for the others to come down, and for Winged Kuriboh to return from his search of the facility. Taking caution since he wasn't a stupid boy, Syrus lowered himself down. Hassleberry grabbed hold of the bluenette’s hands, knowing full well the boy wasn't very physically apt. Of course the word he would use would be  _ ‘wuss’  _ but now wasn't really the time. Holding the boy up as he got in position to properly drop down, Syrus nodded at the younger student, giving him the go ahead to let go. 

“I've gotcha, Sy!” Jaden declared, holding his arms out as the smaller boy dropped down, catching him safely in his arms before placing him down on his feet. Smiling at the bluenette Jaden watched contently as the rest of his friends descended carefully from the ventilation shaft, Syrus pouting adorably to himself as they did so.

“Your turn, Crowler.” Alexis called up to the doctor inching his way to the edge of the duct. “Be careful.”

“Don't worry about me, Alexis.” Crowler said, poking his head over the edge of the hole so the kids could see him as he made sure they had all descended safely. “I'll be just fi- AH!” forgetting about logic for a moment Crowler leaned forwards into the hole, causing him to tumble on out of the vent falling down onto the floor in a heap of glory and pink frills. Quickly gathering around the professor the students all reached out their hand to help the professor up.

“You okay??” Hassleberry asked, looking down at the fallen teacher as he collected himself and repositioned himself in a sitting position within the circle of students. 

“Y-Yes, I'm alright.” Crowler answered, nodding at his students before taking Bastion's hand, pulling himself back up to his feet before brushing off his coat, tidying himself up from the embarrassing tumble he just took. 

_ “Kuri kuri!!” _

Jaden turned from his group at the sound of his partner’s little voice, his eyes widened thusly as the little furball practically flew right into his face.

“Did you find Chazz??” Jaden asked urgently, his heart pounding in his chest from the anticipation building up inside of him. The little Kuriboh floated up and down signaling a nod as he turned back around, more than prepared to lead his master to the imprisoned teen. Turning quickly back to the others Jaden’s eyes were serious and focused, motioning for them to follow him. “Hurry, guys! Follow me!”

“Jaden, wait!” Syrus called after his best friend, taking off after the brunette as he himself had practically started sprinting down the corridor. Following Syrus and Jaden's lead the others swiftly followed suit, taking off down the hall hastily catching up to the two ahead of them.

“W-Where are you going, Jaden??” Alexis panted as she ran, though she had an idea why he had taken off the way he did, she also felt like it may be a good idea to ask just in case she was wrong.

“To get to Chazz!” Jaden answered back, turning his head to the blonde girl for a moment before rounding the corner to the left of them. Running for a few minutes more Winged Kuriboh stopped in front of a single white door in the center of the wall, looking back at Jaden in urgency.

_ “Kuri!” _

“He’s in there?” Jaden asked, his voice lowered to a more hushed tone so that anyone inside hopefully wouldn't be able to hear him speaking just outside. Kuriboh signaled his nod again, his eyes turning sad.

_ “Kuri..” _

“That's not good..”

“What? What's not good?” Atticus asked, his own tone adopting the urgency Winged Kuriboh had had up until that point in time. His own sense of anticipation skyrocketing as they stood there in the empty hall. “Chazz is in there, isn't he??”

“According to Kuriboh.” Jaden nodded back to the elder brunette, his eyes turning from focused and determined to straight up concerned. “And from what my little buddy told me, he's not doing so good..”

“Oh no..” Alexis gasped quietly, her own eyes filled with sadness as she thought about their friend in such a state that Jaden was suggesting he could be in. If anything seriously happened to Chazz, she didn't think she would know what to do about it. And Atticus would be so upset…

“Well then what are we standing out here for!?” Hassleberry asked, slightly louder than the others just like in all honesty he always was. Clenching his fist in anger as he worried about their endangered friend just beyond the closed door. “Let's get in there and bust ‘im out!”

“I agree, but caution must advised before we-"

“-Oh can it, Bastion!” Hassleberry retorted, interrupting the elder Ra in a frustrated and slightly hushed shout. “There's no time!”

“Hassleberry’s right.” Atticus asserted, taking a step towards the door, reaching past Jaden and grasping his delicate hand around the silver colored handle, securing his grasp around the cold metal. “We don't have time to stand around talking.” turning the handle swiftly in a downward motion the click of the door sounded through the primarily silent corridor, taking a quick moment to compose himself and a deep breath inwards, Atticus swiftly swung the door open, revealing the room concealed behind the white barrier. 

“Chazz!!” He shouted, his eyes widening exponentially as he looked inside, his gorgeous milk chocolate eyes fixating on the unconscious boy shackled to the table before them, surrounded by scientists and doctors, and stained with blood. Realizing what he had just done Atticus quickly clasped his hand over his mouth, his heart beginning to pound as the man appearing to be the boss turned his way, an angry yet surprised look plastered to his face as the rest of the students and Crowler poked their way into the room, horrified by what they saw.

“This is bad…”


	11. Chapter 11

**11**

****

“BOSS!!” Ojama Yellow cried appearing beside Jaden as he inched closer into the room, laying his eyes on his kidnapped master. A waterfall of tears flowing from his eyes at the sight of his master's pitiful state.

“Let Chazz go!” Jaden demanded, stepping out past Atticus into the room, dismissing the yellow imp as his eyes burned with more anger than he had ever been exposed to, before looking upon the man who had his friend chained and hooked up to so many machines both medical and scientific he looked more like a science experiment than a fragile teenage boy. 

“Are you actually trying to make demands?” Drewer questioned, chuckling to himself as he raised his eyebrow at the smaller brunette. “Don't forget who has the upperhand here, boy.”

“You have no right to treat Chazz like this!” Alexis shouted, appalled by the state of their friend, “He's a human being, not a science experiment!”

“Oh contraire, my dear.” Drewer exclaimed, angered by the presence of the children, but not exactly surprised by it. True his plans would become complicated by their presence, but he was confident they wouldn't be able to stop him from completing his assignment. “You see,  _ dear _ Chazz is the property of Slade and Jagger Princeton, his legal guardians. And they've ordered me to...shall we say...help him behave.” his chuckle darkened as he relished in the twisted treatment the poor boy had been dealt his entire life. “So you see children. I can treat him however I wish.”

“You sick bastard!” Bastion shouted, letting his normally calm and collected demeanor crack in the presence of such a terrible man. “Release Chazz immediately!”

“That's enough, Bastion.” Crowler asserted, extending his arm out in front of the brit to quiet him, taking a step forward Crowler’s eyes burned with a fire hotter and more intense than any they had seen before.  “But as guardian of these children and the leading professor of Duel Academy, I cannot allow you to harm my students!” the anger present in Crowler resonated within the room, startling everyone in all honesty. Glaring deeply at Dr. Drewer Crowler’s voice raised exponentially as he extended his arm swiftly in a menacing point. “I command you to hand the boy over to me  _ at once!! _ ”

“Command?” Drewer questioned, raising an eyebrow at the beyond angry professor before him. The man was practically trembling from how much anger was exuding from him staring at his dear student in such a condition, and at the man who was responsible for it. “I hate to break it to you  _ professor  _ but...” he chuckled to himself as he glanced back at Chazz, passing a moment silently to allow the unconscious boy’s discomforted moans to carry through the room, only serving to anger Crowler and the others more. “You aren't in charge here.” chuckling slightly to himself Drewer’s expression dropped almost instantly as his aids and the other doctors present stepped up to join him before the group of school children. “Seize them.”

Complying to their boss’ order the others on Drewer's side quickly approached the children, apprehending the students as the anger built inside of the titular Slifer as he saw the despicable grownups lay their hands on his friends.

“Hey! Let go of me!” Alexis demanded, squirming as one of the doctors held her arms behind her back. Of course she wasn't thrilled.

“Jaden, help!” Syrus cried out as he was assailed by Drewer's male aid, bending over and wrapping his arm around the small boy's chest and arms, tightening his grip as he straightened back up, lifting the boy a small ways off the ground since Sy was so tiny. 

“Sy!” Jaden called out, looking back and forth to his friends as one by one they were grabbed by the doctors and aids, enraged by the treatment of his friends he wasn't even thinking anymore as a doctor roughly grabbed the brunette's arm. “Don't even think about it!!” he shouted, attempting to shake himself free before Jaden swung his free arm up, landing his fist right on the doctor’s face in a powerful anger filled blow, knocking the man back as he released his hold on the boy. Throwing another hit at the man Jaden got the doctor away from him as he turned to his best friend determined to free him as well.

“I've got your back, Sarge!” Hassleberry declared, joining Jaden at his side before he could be apprehended like the others.

“Thanks, Hassleberry.” Jaden nodded, taking a quick second to decide on a course of action before moving forward. “You free Lex and the others, I'll take care of Syrus.”

“You can count on me.” Hassleberry nodded back, taking off to free the resident female, prying the aid off of her before throwing his own powerful punch to the man’s face, escorting Alexis back over to the corner before proceeding to help the others.

“I've got you, Sy!” Jaden declared through the carnage Hassleberry was causing around them, anger seething through him now that his best friend was in trouble again, through no fault of his own as it always was, but that wasn't the point. The point was that Syrus was in harms way, and that was not okay. “Don't worry!”

“You want him?” The aid asked, glaring at the Slifer as he tightened his grip on the whimpering boy he held. “Come and get him, kid.” 

Accepting the man's challenge without a second thought Jaden charged forwards, throwing punches at the man while trying to avoid hitting Syrus, who was freaking out being in the middle of an actual fight. Nothing would deter Jaden from protecting his friends, least of all his best friend. And besides if he let even one of these people go Chazz would be that much harder to help. Glancing to his right he smirked as he beheld Bastion and Alexis making their way over to Chazz, Atticus keeping Drewer busy so he couldn't stop them from reaching their friend in desperate need.

“Jaden!” Syrus called, squirming in the man’s grasp in an attempt to free himself, which sadly was failing. “Hel-”

“-Be quiet!” The aid commanded, clasping his free hand over the bluenette’s mouth, irritated by his high pitched whining.

“Sy!” Jaden shouted, angrily charging forward back towards the aid he threw another punch at the man’s head, his own unguarded body sustaining a kick to the stomach as the man swiftly turned and kicked at the teen trying to hit him, doubling back for a moment as the wind was knocked out of him. “Not cool, bro!” Jaden said, shaking his head quickly before charging forward again determined to free Syrus on his own. Carefully avoiding Syrus’s small frame in the man’s grip Jaden threw as many punches as he could manage to the man’s face, succeeding in hitting him in the nose enough times to draw the slightest bit of blood. Noticing the fatigue growing in the aid Jaden mustered every ounce of his strength and administered a swift sweeping kick to the man’s knees, knocking him off his feet and down to the floor. Slamming hard on his back the aid smacked his head against the floor, causing him to release his hold on Syrus enough for the bluenette to push out of his arms. Jaden scrambled over to them, bending down and wrapping his arms gently and protectively around Syrus, pulling him up to his feet and away from the man. 

“You okay, Sy?” Jaden asked, looking down at the bluenette with a concerned glint in his lovely brown eyes.

“Yeah, I'm okay.” Syrus answered, nodding up at his best friend to reassure him that he really was okay, if not only a bit shaken by the experience. “Thanks, Jay.”

“No problem, buddy. I'm glad you’re alright..” Jaden sighed in relief, keeping his arms protectively around the smaller boy he looked around the room, examining the scene as Hassleberry took care of most of the remaining doctors and aids and Atticus himself was taking on Dr. Drewer, Jaden’s eyes locked on Dr. Crowler who was standing not too far away having an internal battle with himself deciding which students needed his help the most. “Dr. Crowler!” Jaden called, motioning for the professor to come over as his purplish blue eyes turned to the brunette at the mention of his name. “Take care of Syrus for me. I'm gonna help Atticus and Hassleberry!”

“Oh! O-Of course!” Crowler stuttered out, hurrying over to the two friends as Jaden released Syrus from his protective hold, effectively passing the torch to Crowler before hastily joining the fight with Hassleberry and Atticus. “Come, my boy, this way.” keeping his own eyes on the situation at hand Crowler ushered Syrus over into one of the front corners of the room, taking him as far from the fight as he could as to honor Jaden’s wishes for him to protect the boy while he was otherwise occupied. 

“What do we do, Bastion??” Alexis asked, standing by the side of the table Chazz was shackled to she looked him over, noticing the slight bit of blood on his wrists and ankles, which looked like they had been slightly mangled, most likely from struggling she figured, as well as the bloody gash on his forehead, which was also very concerning. But what really worried her was how distressed he sounded, moaning and groaning in his unconscious state Chazz sounded like a wounded puppy more than a teenage boy. And on top of that all of the machines and equipment he was hooked up and attached to wasn't making her feel any better about what Jaden said about Chazz not doing very well right now..and what worried her the most was the device secured to the boy’s head, clearly marked by the monitor the device itself was matched with. It was a mind eraser. 

“Well clearly we have to stop that machine!” Bastion observed, gesturing to the device in question currently erasing their friend’s mind in front of them. “If that thing finishes then there will be no hope in rescuing Chazz. Now Alexis, I need you to monitor his condition while I try and stop this thing.” he instructed, moving over to the eraser’s control mechanism. “And see if you can't find a way to unlock those shackles, we won't be taking him anywhere if we can't get him out of those things.”

“Sure, sure.” Alexis nodded, placing her hand gently on Chazz’s arm wondering just what it was she would be able to do to help. Looking over the unconscious boy lying before her, her heart tore at the sound of his quiet discomforted moans and the sight of his bloodstained skin. Never had Alexis seen Chazz in such a fragile and vulnerable state before, it hurt her heart to see him like this. “Hang in there, Chazz...your friends are here for you now, and we're gonna get you out of here.” she soothed, curling her fingers in between his own on his left hand which was positioned palm up since there was an IV sticking into his veins on that arm.

_ “Whatever’s in that thing is probably what's keeping him unconscious..”  _ She thought, glancing up at the IV in question for a moment before looking back to Chazz.  _ “Well, it's gotta come out sooner or later.”  _ keeping her fingers entwined with his own in a show of comfort, Alexis placed her free hand on his arm beside the spot where the IV was stuck into his arm, ready to slide it out of the puncture.

“How’s he doing over there, Alexis?” Bastion asked, speaking slightly louder over the noise of battle around them, his eyes still glued to the mechanism he was fiddling with trying to stop Chazz’s mind from being erased. “Any luck getting him free?”

“No, not yet.” Alexis answered back, shaking her head as she slipped the IV out of Chazz’s extremely pale skin. “What about you?”

“I'm afraid things are going rather slowly.” Bastion sighed, doing his best to continue his work swiftly. “It seems this...Dr. Drewer as this equipment says, is smarter than I anticipated. The override sequence is much more encrypted than I first thought..”

“That's not good..” Alexis sighed, looking back to Chazz, her heart sinking as she saw the discomforted grimace on his otherwise peaceful face. 

“No, it's not.” Bastion asserted “If I can't stop this thing in time Chazz will be beyond saving.” he sighed, shaking his head as he took a moment to collect himself before he lost his cool thinking about the worst case scenario. “But if I can stop it  _ before  _ his mind is completely erased, everything that was taken from him should return.”

“Well hurry up then!” Alexis commanded, worry growing in her heart as she watch the percentage of completion for the device slowly climb as more and more of their dear friend was taken away, and his whimpers only continued on. 

“I'm trying!” Bastion called back, just as frustrated and worried as she was. “But like I said, it's more complex than I anticipated!”

“Hold on, Chazz…” Alexis whispered quietly, her mood dropping exponentially as she gave his hand a small comforting squeeze. But it was then she wondered if it really was comfort for  _ him _ so much as it was for  _ her. _

_________________________

 

Chazz had long given up his struggle against the darkness overtaking his body, he felt weak and helpless bound by the dark force wrapped around him, watching all of his precious memories shatter and disappear around him as well as his own body. His right arm was gone, and now without a good amount of his legs he was forced down to his knees. Chazz’s eyes were dull and empty, almost dead. Losing himself more and more every moment, drowning in his sorrow that was weighing so heavily down upon him Chazz was falling deeper and deeper into despair. His vision overcoming with darkness, it felt like all hope was truly lost.

_ “Hold on, Chazz…” _

The familiar feminine voice echoed quietly around him, reaching his ears the voice sounded muffled and whispery, like it was barely there, but it was. Glancing around slowly for the source of the voice Chazz’s dying, glassy eyes locked on another memory, taking in the sight of the blonde woman in the image.

_ “A-Ale...xis…?”  _ Chazz thought, unable to speak through the dark mass covering his mouth and subsequently what felt like it was draining the energy from his slowly disintegrating body. What little memory he had left was weak and fuzzy, but it was there all the same. The voice had to belong to her.

_ “Just hold on, okay..?”  _ The voice said again, reaffirming Chazz’s weak thoughts as he kept his fading eyes on the image of the girl by his side along with who he assumed were also their friends, but he just couldn't remember.  _ “If you can hear me, Chazz, we’re all here to help you, you'll be safe soon...so don't give in, okay..? You've gotta pull through this.” _

_ “Help...me...Lex…”  _ Chazz thought again, trying his best to move his only remaining arm away from the darkness, his instincts were directing him to reach out to the voice, but the darkness would not release its hold on the boy.

_ “Jaden’s here, I'm here, Atticus is here…”  _ Alexis sighed,  _ “Everyone is here for you. I'm sorry we let this happen to you, but we're going to get you out of it and back to Duel Academy safe and sound.”  _ she continued, Chazz’s eyes slowly regaining their life and sparkle.  _ “Just cling to those memories, okay?” _

_ “But...I-I can't…”  _ Glancing back at his much smaller than it was before body, Chazz fell from his knees to his side, unable to hold himself up anymore without the entire bottom half of his legs. Hitting what served as the ground with a thud a loud grunt exited the boy, reduced to a muffled sound through the darkness covering his mouth. Focusing all his strength on listening to Alexis, Chazz realized there was an urgency to her voice, as the light returned to his eyes just in time to register everything he saw and heard.

_ “If you let them erase all of your memories and everything then there won't be anything left of you for us to save!! Bastion’s trying to stop the machine but please, you have to hold on, Chazz! Can you hear me!? Hold on!” _

________________________

 

“You'll never get away with this!” Atticus shouted, sending a powerful roundhouse kick into Drewer’s side, anger fuling him much to his chagrin, knowing what could happen if he accepted his inner darkness. But if it meant saving a friend, he was fully prepared to do whatever it took. “As soon as we get Chazz out of here you better believe your asses are  _ all  _ going to prison!!”

“You’d like to think so, wouldn't you  _ boy _ !?” Drewer asked, his own voice raised while he took a moment to recover from the bow before grabbing Atticus’s arm as the brunette threw a punch at him, spinning him around, holding his arm tightly behind his back as Drewer held Atticus in place in front of his own body. “But who said I was going to just let you leave?” hastily shoving his free hand into his pocket Drewer drew out his taser, flipping it on and shoving it into Atticus’s back before the brunette could act, sending his cries throughout the room catching the attention of all the others present.

“Atticus!!” Alexis screamed, whipping around in her brother's direction as soon as his pained screams reached her ears.

“Hey!” Hassleberry shouted, anger continuing to seethe through the youngest present, his eyes lost their normal look as they replaced themselves with his dinosaur eyes. “Get away from him!” An enraged growl escaping from his lips before Hassleberry charged forwards, slamming his shoulder into Drewer’s body causing him to drop the taser as his body reverberated from the shock of the powerful blow, releasing Atticus from his grasp the elder student doubled forwards coughing as he stumbled down to his knees.

“W-What the hell!?” Drewer exclaimed, his eyes widening as he beheld the eyes of the boy now assaulting him. They looked inhuman to him, which was a correct assumption because they weren't human at all. “What  _ are  _ you!?”

“Hassleberry’s got dino DNA!” Syrus explained proudly from the corner of the room, lowering Crowler’s arm which was held out protectively in front of the smallest student at Jaden’s behest for the professor to protect the boy while he fought. “You're no match for him!”

“Dino DNA…?” Drewer questioned, raising an eyebrow in intrigue at the boy before him, quickly widening his eyes as he attempted to dodge an attack Hassleberry sent his way, but instead took a strong blow to the face, knocking him down to the ground where the enraged dinosaur child took his chance to wail on the good doctor while Jaden rushed to Atticus's side.

“You okay, Atticus??” Jaden questioned, concerned for his friend’s wellbeing as he kneeled down beside the elder brunette, placing a hand gently on his back.

“Y-Yeah.” Atticus coughed out, nodding before he looked up at the Slifer, the glint still ever present in his eyes as he offered a thumbs up to the younger boy. “Never been better.”

“I've almost got it!” Bastion declared, glancing back at the scene behind him his eyes fixated immediately on Chazz still unconscious on the table, not looking any better than before. “How's he doing, Alexis?”

“Not any better.” She explained, looking around for anything that could possibly be helpful in this situation. Glancing around her eyes were drawn to the counter on the opposite side of Chazz, and a certain collection of cards resting on it thusly. “His deck!” She gasped, remembering what Jaden had said about Chazz’s deck being missing from his duel disk when Jaden found it in the woods. Finally letting go of the snow white hand she held, Alexis rushed over to the counter, scooping up the deck in her hands, holding it close to her heart before returning to Chazz's side.

“Hey, Lex!” Jaden called, catching her attention as he looked away for a moment, reaching into his pocket and fishing out a certain card. “Catch!” swinging his arm out in front of him Jaden tossed her the card he held, catching it between her fingers as all duelists were somehow able to do she took a look at the card she now held. And just as she suspected, it was Ojama Yellow. Smiling for a quick moment Alexis placed the card back into Chazz’s deck, taking a moment of pause before sliding the stack of cards into Chazz’s limp hand closing his fingers around it. Hoping that the presence of the boy’s deck would help give him the strength to keep holding on while Bastion finished his work. 

“Great scott!” Bastion exclaimed, a slight hint of happiness detectable in his voice, “I've got it!” turning to his friends a smile was present on his slightly manly face, proud of his work he quickly turned back to the machine, executing the command to stop the mind erase sequence. A suspenseful moment passed, and the hum of the mechanism quieted and stopped, the percentage of progress of what had been erased from Chazz’s mind shot back down to zero, the device stuck to Chazz’s head unlocking automatically Alexis hurried and slid it off, taking Chazz’s face in her hands almost like she expected him to wake up right then and there. Sliding the oxygen tubes off and out of his nose she began looking for a way to free him from his bonds.

“Bastion, you've done it!” Crowler praised, more than proud of his student's genius that allowed them to save Chazz’s mind. But he knew the boy was still far from being saved.

“Right, now we must get these shackles off of him!” Bastion declared, joining Alexis by Chazz’s side he examined the iron clamps around his wrists and ankles keeping him down on the table. “His memories will return over the next few hours, they weren't completely erased after all so we don't have to worry about that." Locking his eyes on the shackles Bastion discovered small clasps keeping them locked around Chazz’s wrists and ankles, prying and pulling at the first of the four they had to deal with he looked up at Alexis, imploring her to help him free their friend.

“Here, let me help.” Atticus said, swiftly joining them by Chazz’s side, prying open the manacles around the boy's ankles. With the unlocking of the shackles Chazz’s rubbed raw and slightly broken skin from his struggles was revealed, only sending more sadness through the friends as Chazz laid before them, hurting, and so vulnerable. “We've gotta get him out of here.”

“Here, let me.” Hassleberry said, panting slightly, his eyes returned to their normal state as he held his arms out, offering to carry Chazz as they made their escape. Being extremely gentle with the fragile boy Atticus slid his arms under his back and legs, lifting him off of the table. Pausing for a second Atticus was frankly concerned by how much lighter Chazz felt than he thought he would be. Taking a mental note of that he turned to the younger student, gently passing him over to the significantly more muscular student, his heart ripping from his chest upon seeing the small specks of blood that remained on his sleeves from where small opened wounds collided with the white fabric. Hassleberry took Chazz in his arms, securing him against his chest holding him bridal style he shifted Chazz so his head was resting on his shoulder, wrapping his arm around Chazz’s back and the other under his legs, holding the unconscious teen gently but firmly in his grasp.

“Come, children.” Crowler said, opening the door for them to leave. “I think it's about time we get out of here.”

“You can say that again..” Jaden sighed, shaking his head as he looked over his friends. And to his joy, they were all alright from their encounters just now, of course Chazz wasn't completely fine, but he would be now that they had him in their own hands. Having taken Chazz’s deck back Alexis handed it to Bastion, who in turn slipped it into his pocket for safekeeping. Walking over to the wall opposite the door, she took care unhooking Chazz’s coat from the hook it was hung on, folding it carefully before grabbing the rest of his clothes from the chair beside it.

“Alright, let's go.” She said, nodding to her friends as she headed quickly towards the door, the others following suit. Following Alexis the group hurried down the corridors, hoping not to run into too much opposition on their way out, after all they needed to get Chazz back to Duel Academy and out of danger as quickly as they could. Running a few moments more they reached the entrance to the laboratory complex. 

“Oh no!” Syrus gasped, “We need a keycard to open the door..”

“No problem, Sy.” Jaden said, smiling as he pulled a small rectangular piece plastic. “I took it off that Drewer guy after Hassleberry knocked him out. Guy came in handy after all.” chuckling quietly to himself Jaden swiped the card, opening the door before them. Cursing quietly to himself at the same time, knowing full well that they wouldn't get out of the actual building without a fight, which is exactly what Chazz didn't need to be in the middle of right now. Making their way forward in haste Jaden took note of the suspicions lack of guards around the place, leading him to the idea that they were probably going to be walking right into a trap. But that was something they were just going to have to risk if they were going to get Chazz  _ and  _ themselves out of there and back to Duel Academy in one piece. Looking back at his friends Jaden’s eyes focused on Chazz, unconscious in Hassleberry’s arms he looked so frail and vulnerable in contrast to his usual self. Without his actual clothes the light color of the thin hospital gown he was dressed in made him look even whiter than he already was, it was almost scary how thin and pale he looked without being shrouded in dark colors and multiple layers. Suppressing his worries if only to keep his focus on keeping his friends safe, Jaden shook his head, turning back front as he led the group on their way to the exit.

“The exit should be just up ahead!” Bastion instructed after a short while, looking at his map he’d pulled out to be sure they didn't lose their way, he glanced around at his friends, glad that they were all doing alright considering everything that had been happening around them. Rounding the next right the friends came upon the front foyer of the building, eyes fixated on the large double doors constituting as the entrance Jaden stopped in his tracks, holding his arms out to stop his friends as his eyes were locked forwards, glaring at two fixtures blocking their path.

Slade and Jagger.

“You kids didn't  _ actually  _ think we wouldn't know you were here?” Jagger asked, chuckling to himself as he thought back upon the moment the students had appeared on the security feed. 

“Hand over the boy.” Slade calmly demanded, extending his arms out to take his unconscious little brother from his friends, his eyes cold and unfeeling as he looked upon his youngest brother. 

Angered beyond all plausible belief, Atticus took a step forward, moving to stand in front of Hassleberry, his eyes narrowed he stood tall and resolute shooting daggers at the elder Princeton’s with his fiery eyes.

“Over my dead body.” he said, clenching his fists as he stared at Chazz’s brothers, angrier than he had ever been in his life that they would treat their little brother so horribly. No self respecting older brother in their right mind would ever do anything to harm their younger sibling. That’s what Atticus had always believed, and yet the two brothers ahead of him had done just that. Broken and abused their youngest for the majority of his life, beaten him, scared him, caused him so much hurt he developed a deep depression and suffered intense panic attacks almost at just the mention of his elder brothers. The fire in Atticus's heart burned and flared hotter than any before, he would make them pay if it was the last thing he did.

“Atticus, calm down..” Alexis whispered, concerned for her older brother when she saw the anger resonating within him. Glancing over to the boy in Hassleberry’s arms her heart seized up again, Chazz moaned quietly, shifting unconsciously still in discomfort from all he had been put through since he was taken from the island. It just wasn't fair.

“You misunderstand, kid.” Slade said, his eyes narrowing at the younger brunette, lowering his arms though he still had the intention of taking back his youngest brother. “I am not asking. Hand Chazz over to me.  _ Now. _ ”

Overflowing with fury, Atticus took elegant strides up to the two brothers, standing tall he took a deep breath as a moment passed. Taking a moment's pause glaring again Atticus’s sent his first directly into Slade’s face, knocking him back a short ways.

“Atticus!” Jaden gasped, his eyes widening as he watched the scene unfold before him, squeezing Syrus’s shoulder which his hand was resting on as they stood back. He knew Atticus harboured hatred for Chazz’s brothers for what they'd done to him, but the savage nature of the blow was unexpected to be sure.

“You won't touch him!” Atticus shouted, his fists clenched so tightly his knuckles had begun to turn white. “An older brother is supposed to  _ protect  _ his younger siblings! And you -both of you- have beaten and abused Chazz for too long! I would  _ never  _ hurt my little sister like that!” he shouted, pointing back to Alexis before delivering the same savage blow to Jagger as he had Slade. Nothing angered Atticus more than seeing older siblings harm their youngers. It sickened him, and especially in this case, it made him hate. Dealing a few more punches to the brothers, his friends watched in silence and honestly a slight bit of fear as he continued “You're both a disgrace to us older brothers! And we'll make sure that you  _ never  _ so much as touch even one hair on Chazz’s head,  _ ever again _ !!” shouting angrily Atticus punched Slade again, keeping his eyes focused on the eldest Princeton, he failed to notice as Jagger came up alongside him, dealing the brunette his own hit to his gorgeous face. Turning hastily to the middle brother after taking a moment to recover from the blow, Atticus rammed his fist back into Jagger's face in retaliation. He wasn't about to let either of the two brothers get away without receiving punishment.

Chazz laid limp and frail in Hassleberry’s arms, his head resting gently on the younger’s shoulder as he was positioned as such so he would hopefully be a little more comfortable. Groaning quietly in discomfort as he had been doing the whole time, Chazz’s eyes began to very slowly and slightly crack open, still under the influence of the tranquilizing drugs that had been pumped into his body. Unable to move his limp and sleeping body Chazz’s extremely blurry and sleepy vision was all he had to rely on. Unable to open his heavy eyelids anymore than they were, only supplying him with a slight sliver of sight, the boy glanced around all he could, taking a moment to register what he saw the best he could with his fried brain and slowly recovering mind, Chazz found himself able to recognize the boy carrying him.

_ “Hassleberry….?”  _ he thought, unable to voice his thoughts into words as he glanced around, his slight line of sight not offering him much, but through his peripherals he did see who he needed no moment to recognize, and what he was doing. Though his eyes were unable to stay open any longer. Slowly closing as the boy began to lose consciousness again.  _ “...A-Atticus….stop..” _

Crowler stood with his students, proud of them for saving Chazz and getting him out of harm's way, but as he stood watching Atticus unleash his fury and rage upon the elder Princeton brothers his heart seized. Seeing his student commit such an arguably savage act of violence hurt him so deeply. Closing his eyes for a moment Crowler closed his hands into lightly clenched fists of his own, taking a deep breath before reopening his bluish purple eyes, locking them on the Obelisk Brunette, his voice stern and unwavering as he commanded the young student.

“Atticus. That's enough.”

Their beloved professor's serious voice reaching his ears Atticus halted his assault, his fist still gripping a weakened Slade’s shirt which he had grabbed before, turning his gaze to his friends and dear teacher. Panting as he came down from his rage in this moment of quiet.

“It's time to leave.” Crowler said, taking a step forwards towards his emotional student.

“We can't leave now!” Atticus protested, turning back to the brothers he had laid waste to in the passed few minutes, his anger still running high though it  _ was  _ slowly declining during his inaction. “They have to pay for what they've done!”

“I know, Atticus.” Crowler agreed, extending his hand to the boy in a steadying gesture, while his tone softened to that of an adult speaking to a child. And that's just what his students were in his eyes no matter how close to adulthood they were. Children. “I know. And I can understand your anger, but now it's time to put that aside, and take care of Chazz.” he soothed, further approaching his precious student, gently laying a comforting hand on his trembling shoulder. “Atticus..it's time for us to go.”

Atticus’s anger was strong, but in that one single moment as Crowler’s caring tone reached his ears, speaking directly to his heart. Looking back his chocolate eyes locked on his fragile, broken friend in Hassleberry’s strong and protective arms surrounded by Jaden and the others in a protective barrier, Atticus’s hand released Slade’s shirt, though giving the eldest a small shove as he did so, knocking the weakened political tycoon to the ground, taking down with him his business inclined brother, landing with a thud on the floor. Turning around and looking back to his professor, lowering his head to the floor in shame of his anger controlled actions.

“Okay.” Atticus nodded, keeping his gaze down, afraid of how his friends would think of him now.

“They'll get their punishment.” Crowler reassured, motioning for the rest of the kids to come along as he led Atticus over to the front door, wrapping his arm around the boy’s shoulder. “But this time, it'll come from a judge. And Chancellor Sheppard and I will see to that, don't you worry my boy.” looking back up as Crowler’s hold on his shoulder tightened Atticus caught a glance at his professor’s own angered facial expression before he opened the door to the Princeton Group HQ. “I promise you that.”

Following Dr. Crowler the group of students stepped out of the building, realizing the realism of everything that had all happened. Chazz really  _ had  _ been abused and hurt by his brothers, he  _ had  _ been kidnapped and hurt again, put through terrible pain all his life only for it to continue because his brothers had deemed it necessary to potentially destroy his mind just for the possible chance of gaining more power. Walking down the sidewalks on their way to the train station to return to Domino so they could sail on home to Duel Academy the students ignored the stares and gasps of passersby concerned by the bloodied, unconscious boy they carried along with them, focused only on returning home. But even so a thought resonated throughout the entire group as they continued on their way.

What would happen to Chazz now that they intended to get his brothers arrested?


	12. Chapter 12

** 12 **

 

Walking down the halls of Duel Academy Jaden was silent, thinking back on what they had experienced over such a short period of time. It had been two days since they returned to the Island with Chazz, rushing him immediately to Ms Fontaine as soon as they stepped foot on the island again. Of course, she was shocked when they brought him to her and told her everything that they knew had happened to him. But what was stuck in his mind was the image of what they saw as they redressed Chazz in his own clothes. Taking the hospital gown off of him after Ms Fontaine cleaned and bandaged the wounds on his wrists and ankles, not to mention the gash on his forehead along with the other small injuries spread over the remainder of his body, after sliding his pants on not about to make things awkward looking at their hardly conscious friend in his underwear, they all saw what Atticus had seen that first day they learned about Chazz’s true family issues.

Scars.

Scars decorating his entire torso, mostly congregated on his stomach and sides a few did place themselves on his chest. And as they thought, shifting him in curiosity Bastion had found more on his back. Horrified the friends found it emotionally difficult to lay their hands on the boy, taking multiple minutes to put Chazz’s dark purple turtleneck back onto him before pulling the covers of the infirmary cot over his mared and fragile body. It was hard on them just knowing what their poor friend had been through in his young life, but they couldn't possibly imagine how Chazz felt about it. After all, he had actually _experienced_ it.

 _“Dammit..”_ Jaden thought, shaking his head to try and rid himself of those images as he approached Fontaine’s door. Sliding the door open Jaden stepped into the hospital, his friends were all there standing around in a cluster around Chazz’s vicinity, he was positioned so that he was able to sit up in bed, still a little weak from all he’d been through. Ms Fontaine herself sat on the side of Chazz’s bed, the back of her hand placed on his forehead, feeling through the bandage wrapped around his head to cover the deep cut on his forehead to see if he was too warm, he hadn't been feeling well since he came to, but they all figured that made sense considering all the conflicting drugs in his system and the strain his brain had been put through. Registering who all was around, both surprisingly and unsurprisingly, Chancellor Sheppard entered view as well, and appeared to be speaking with Dr. Crowler.

“Hey, Jaden.” Syrus said, turning to his best friend as he entered the room, a small smile on his unbearably adorable little face.

“Hey, Sy.” Jaden nodded, acknowledging his adorable best friend, taking a place next to the small boy as he listened in on Crowler and Sheppard's conversation.

“The problem is that Chazz is a minor. And with his brothers most likely going to jail, that complicates the situation.” Sheppard explained, sighing as he conversed with Crowler on the legal aftermath of all that had happened.

“Yes, I'm aware.” Crowler nodded, shaking his head slowly as he too considered what could be done. “But we simply _must_ offer our aid, Chancellor. After all it's my duty as an educator to ensure the wellbeing of my students!” he asserted, backing down for a moment with a slight realization. “And besides, it was on _my_ authority that his brothers were taken in by the authorities.” the man took the responsibility upon himself to care for Chazz after everything that had happened. It was nice to see Crowler acting like an adult, but given the circumstances, it was also sad..

“Yes but it was on _my_ authority that you all went to rescue him.” Sheppard retaliated, pointing out the facts. “This is my responsibility. I will do everything in my power to ensure that Chazz is taken care of.” Sheppard placed a hand on Crowler’s shoulder, giving it a slight squeeze as he gave the professor an extremely serious look. “I can ensure you of that. But now there's another matter to discuss.” turning his gaze to his wounded student, Sheppard's voice raised, addressing the entire group now. “Chazz’s older brothers are going to stand trial for everything they've done to him. And I'm sure the authorities would like him to testify against them, but I don't know if-"

“-I’ll do it.”

Everyone in the room turned to Chazz, his eyes were downcast and sad, but they knew he meant what he said. Chazz was strong, he wasn't about to let his brothers get the better of him while he had the upper hand, and a chance to get them punished for everything they had heartlessly done to him over the years. All the pain and torment he had endured..

“But Chazz..” Alexis almost whispered, her expression saddening as she thought about that outcome and how hard it could be for him to go through with, having to talk about everything his brothers had done to him over the years.

“But nothing, Alexis.” Chazz protested, shaking his head as his right hand tightened around the bedsheets, his resolve showing true. “I've been afraid of my brothers all my life. That's why all this happened,  because I could never work up the nerve to say something before.”

“Yeah, but you said they'd hurt you if they found out you talked.” Atticus interrupted, taking a step closer as he relayed that small fact to the rest who weren't there to hear it that day.

“That's my point.” Chazz said, looking up at his arguably closest friend, his eyes still sad, but overflowing with resolve. “Now’s my chance to talk, without having to worry about what Slade and Jagger would do to me.” Chazz turned his gaze, looking through the group surrounding him his sparkling black orbs focused on Sheppard across the way. “So I'll testify when I'm asked to. I'll be fine, don't worry about that.”

Sheppard nodded silently to Chazz. He knew determination when he saw it, and Chazz was determined to stand against his brothers for once in his life, and resolved to see them punished for the pain they had inflicted upon him. And such a resolve, Sheppard knew he had no place to stand in the way of it.

“Well, now that that's settled for now, I want to talk to you myself, Chancellor.” Ms Fontaine spoke up, standing from her place at Chazz’s bedside having taken his temperature and redressed his wounded wrists while they were all talking. “About his condition and such.”

“Oh yes, of course Fontaine.” Sheppard nodded, making his way to the infirmary door followed by the lovely nurse, who turned back to Chazz for a moment wagging her finger at the boy with a smile on her face.

“I'll be right back to clean up your ankles, okay?”

“Sure. I'll be here.” Chazz said crossing is arms with a slight scoff under his breath as the nurse turned away with a smile, following the Chancellor out into the hall for a more private conversation.

“So, how are you feeling, Chazz?” Jaden asked, turning back to his friend, a concerned and quizzical expression on his face as he inquired about his friend's health. “Any better?”

“I guess.” Chazz mumbled under his breath. He hated having Jaden worry about him, it was humiliating being fussed over by someone who's defeated him at every turn. But the concern was nice no matter who it came from. With no one really caring about him all his life it was nice to know people cared _now._ “All things considered, anyway.”

“Still, that is an improvement.” Bastion said, raising an eyebrow as he looked over their snow white friend, looking to determine if he was really telling the truth about his health, but he couldn't see anything wrong with him on the outside that he could see, so he was satisfied for the time being.

“That's right. You weren't doin’ so good yesterday, you gave us quite a scare, son.” Hassleberry said, recounting the day before. Chazz had finally woken up completely from his drug induced sleep, but he was feeling very sick from the conflicting drugs like they thought. But upon realizing he was in a hospital Chazz entered an almost violent panic attack just like he had that day they learned of his depression and abusive past. It took almost all of his friends and even Crowler to calm him down again, with his mind still under great strain Chazz was more than exhausted by his condition, not helping him at all in any way. It was really unsettling for the group to see him that way. And the fact that Ms. Fontaine wasn't letting him take his medication in order to cleanse his system was only serving to prove negative for Chazz’s feelings.

“Yeah, don’t do that again, okay?” Syrus asked, tilting his head slightly to the left, his adorable gray eyes locking with Chazz’s own. Syrus’s overwhelming cuteness and loving concern for his friend were just too much for everyone.

“S-Sorry.” Chazz stuttered out, turning away from the extremely adorable bluenette. And everyone else did so respectively, unable to stand the cuteness in the singular moment. Sighing quietly Chazz lowered his head again, gripping the sheets in his hands his voice lowered as he spoke again. “I'm sorry...for everything..”

“What are you talking about, buddy?” Jaden asked, raising an eyebrow in confusion at the raven haired teen before him. “Sorry for what?”

“What do you think, Jaden?” Chazz replied, keeping his gaze away from the others, staring at the bandages around his wrists, all the memories coming back to him. “Hiding my...issues. Getting my dumb ass kidnapped, causing you all so much trouble, everything.”

“Chazz, you don't have to apologize, none of this was your fault.” Alexis soothed, coming over and taking a seat next to him at the foot of the bed, resting her hand on his leg aware that he would be comforted by her. It was no secret he had feelings for her, and even though she didn't feel the same, she didn't mind indulging him for the time being if it made him feel better. “You didn't know they would do this to you.”

“Lexi’s right.” Atticus agreed, nodding along with his sister’s statement. “And after all, you told _me_ about all that stuff, so you _did_ say something.”

“That's right, Chazz.” Crowler interjected, taking his place between Bastion and Jaden as he looked down at his wounded student. “You took a huge step that day, and did something extremely brave and difficult for someone in your position. And for that, you have my highest respects.”

“If you say so, Crowler..” Chazz mumbled, his subdued and quiet down mood showing through his attempt at keeping up his charade of having a callous attitude.

“And now it's over.” Bastion said, moving over closer to Chazz, reaching out and placing a hand on his shoulder. “You won't have to worry about them any more.”

In that place, surrounded by people who cared for him and traveled so far to bring him back, Chazz’s heart began to break. He'd never had someone truly care about him, much less an entire group of people caring enough to do what they'd done for him. It tore him up inside, the feelings he had never been exposed to overwhelmed his inexperienced heart.

 _“All my life...I've been held down, forced to live the way others wanted me to..”_ he thought, sitting there with his friends surrounding him, Bastion’s strong hand on his shoulder, and Alexis gently rubbing his leg, her gentle smile casting down on him. It was a wonderful feeling he'd never known. _“I always felt worthless, inadequate..I was never good enough for my brothers, so they beat me senselessly for years and years..until I found myself lost in my own personal abyss..drowning in darkness. When I was taken into this group, I started getting a little better..but when..when I was trapped in my mind..watching everything disappear..I..”_

“Chazz..?” Atticus asked, looking down with concern at the younger boy. He was trembling, all of them realized that but Atticus was the one who spoke up about it. “Are you alright..?”

“Something wrong?” Hassleberry added, trading glances with Syrus as they looked from one another to Chazz a few times, also sharing worry for the boy.

“Nothing, it's just that..” Chazz answered, turning his head slightly, though his gaze was still downcast towards his hands. “When I was..you know..having my mind erased I was well, trapped in my own head.” he explained, making small gestures with his left hand as he tried to voice his thoughts. “It was like a hallucination, but it was so real..”

“What do you mean?” Syrus inquired, not sure what Chazz was implying about what he was relaying to them.

“I could see it all..feel it all..” Chazz explained “I had to watch, as all my memories were shattered and erased before my eyes…”

The group listened in silence, all their hearts hurting as they heard their beloved friend’s turmoil and pain. It must have been hell, being forced to watch every memory you hold dear, everything that gives you your life, your identity, erased before your very eyes with nothing you could do to stop it. Chazz had been helpless to stop his pain all his life, but they couldn't imagine just how helpless and hopeless he could have felt being trapped in such a situation, not even safe in his own mind.

“But it wasn't just that,” Chazz continued, taking his left hand, raising it to his right arm wrapping his hand around it giving the limb a squeeze as he became visibly more uncomfortable, “ _I_ was disappearing too..with every memory that got erased, part of _me_ was slowly erasing too..”

“Oh my..” Crowler gasped quietly, raising his hands to his mouth hovering them in front of his face as he thought about how horrible that must have been to experience. Chazz trembled as he spoke, recounting the terrible and traumatic memory.

“I was trapped, bound by darkness. I could move, I couldn't speak, and everything around me was disappearing...I felt so weak and empty..” Chazz explained, “I was ready give up, to give in with almost no memory of anything at all and no strength to fight anymore. But then..” a moment of silence passed, and Chazz looked up turning his gaze finally upwards, locking his black eyes on the girl sitting at his bedside. “Then I heard Alexis’s voice somehow. She was telling me to hold on, and not to give up fighting. It well...it gave me my hope back, so to speak..”

Alexis offered a gentle smile to the trembling teen, happy that she had actually been able to help him back then. It was nice knowing that she had contributed to her friend’s current safety. Also knowing that her voice had been heard even in such a dark and terrible place, it meant the world to her with the realization that if she hadn't called out to him like she did, Chazz may not be there right now talking about how she in turn had a strong hand in saving his life. Chazz sighed quietly, his expression softening as he glanced at the rest of the group around him, his face now as much sad as it was happy.

“I guess I just want to say...thanks, guys..” looking away from them once more Chazz’s voice lowered in volume, “Thank you for saving me…”

“Of course we did, buddy. And if we had to, we'd do it again.” Jaden soothed, smiling down at his friend and rival, his gentle tone ever present in his words in complete sincerity. “That's what friends are for, after all.”

“We care about you, Chazz. All of us do.” Syrus added, offering a smile of his own as Jaden wrapped his arm around the adorable bluenette, pulling him closer in a slight side bro hug like he had multiple times before.

“That's right.” Atticus agreed, smiling his own gorgeous smile for his young friend, thinking back on all he and the others had done in order to rescue and care for the boy over the short time everything had passed through, he remembered just how in flux his emotions on the matter really had been. He was back and forth between just being sad and then being extremely angry. The whole ordeal had taken its toll on Atticus as well, but he knew what he felt about it was nothing compared to how Chazz was feeling. And the guilt hurt Atticus so badly. The guilt he felt having failed to protect Chazz like he vowed to himself to do, it was eating him up. “But now, it's my turn to apologize.”

“Don't.” Chazz said, shaking his head at the brunette, he already had an idea what the elder was going to say. He knew Atticus, and he knew the brunette would feel like he had to take responsibility for him after Chazz had taken it upon himself to confide in him and trust him with such important information. “I don't blame you, Atticus. Not for any of it, okay?”

“But still..” Atticus sighed, his eyes growing sadder, “I made a vow the day you showed me those scars. A vow as a fellow older brother that I would protect you. But then this happened..” Taking another step closer Atticus took a place beside Alexis, placing a hand on her shoulder he sighed quietly under his breath one more time. “So for that, I really am sorry.” as he spoke a tiny smile began to break through his guilt and sadness. “But you're safe now. You're home.”

“Home..” Chazz whispered quietly. He'd always known the word, but it was never a place he felt was real before..

“You got it.” Hassleberry declared, smiling his own cheeky smile as he looked upon their precious friend. “And believe me, son, we aim to keep you here.”

“That's correct.” Bastion confirmed, but for once his smile wasn't a condescending one. It was a genuine, loving smile meant only for the most precious and dear of friends. And Chazz was just that to everyone. Despite his typical demeanor and having been quite the problem at first, Chazz had earned his place in all of their hearts as a dear and completely irreplaceable friend. A friend they would protect at all costs, no matter what they had to do. “You're home, Chazz.”

“Home with your _real_ family..” Alexis added, giving his leg a little squeeze as she offered him the kindest, most gentle smile she could. After all, he deserved nothing less.

“I..” Chazz started, trailing off before he could continue to speak. This level of warmth and love was something he had never known before. All his life before was full of cold darkness and pain from which he thought he would never escape. But laying there in the Duel Academy hospital surrounded by only kindness and love..it was overwhelming. Feeling a tightness arise in his chest Chazz’s lip quivered slightly as a mist began forming in his eyes. It was all too much for him to take.

“I know you've suffered much in your short years, my boy..” Crowler soothed, taking a seat next to Chazz on the side of the bed as Alexis had before, wrapping his arm around the boy's shoulder, pulling him closer in a comforting side embrace, placing his other hand on Chazz’s other arm gently. “But that time has passed. You have a new family now.” he said, his tone gentle and loving as any adult would speak to a hurting child. Chazz trembled in his professor's tender hold, tears beginning to fall down his pale face. Turning his eyes to the professor, Crowler smiled kindly at his precious student, shifting the boy over slightly before pulling him into a full, gentle hug. “A family that loves you.”

Chazz sat limp in Crowler’s embrace, tears falling from his eyes overflowing with emotions. He couldn't bring himself to speak, but that was alright. Words couldn't even begin to express what Chazz felt inside. The relief, the sadness and hurt conflicting with love and gratefulness to his friends. His _family._ Unable to control the flux of emotions flowing through him Chazz gave in to his heart, letting out his tears he cried, wrapping his arms around his favorite teacher, clinging to him while he cried. Crowler gently rubbed circles into the boy’s back, smiling softly he comforted his student as the others offered their own support by just being there for Chazz. Ms Fontaine and Sheppard lingered in the doorway, looking on at the scene, they didn't dare interrupt the tender moment.

“It's alright now, my boy..” Crowler soothed, holding his crying student with all the gentleness and comfort he could muster up from his entire being. “It's alright..”

Chazz sobbed in Crowler's hold, but it wasn't sadness. The tears were filled with happiness and relief. Relief that he had been saved, and would never be subjected to beatings and tortures by his older brothers ever again. And happiness, that after all this time he had found what he needed. He had a family, a _real_ family that loved him and would do whatever it took to keep him safe and help him through his dark times. The tears streamed almost endlessly, he couldn't bear all the conflicting feelings, but he didn't care. Never in his life had Chazz had a true family. But here now, in the aftermath of tragedy he realized that that's exactly what he found himself in the middle of. Not just friends, but family.

_“Thank you…for saving my life...”_

 

**The end**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so, it comes to a close. I'm so thankful for all the support, and I hope you guys enjoyed this ride of hurt and emotions and crazy crap! Thank you all so much, and I hope to keep providing you all wirh literary entertainment in the future!


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